# CVE-2021-42859: Denial of service in n/a

> A memory leak in Mini-XML can lead to denial of service, though reproducibility is inconsistent across versions.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 26 May 2022
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hv2p-7mr9-q6gg

## What is CVE-2021-42859?

CVE-2021-42859 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 May 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A memory leak issue was discovered in Mini-XML v3.2 that could cause a denial of service. NOTE: testing reports are inconsistent, with some testers seeing the issue in both the 3.2 release and in the October 2021 development code, but others not seeing the issue in the 3.2 release

Weakness: CWE-772 (Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-42859?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mini-Xml Project Mini-Xml.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-42859?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-42859 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-42859 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-42859 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2021-42860](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42860/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-42859 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-42859 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 May 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-42859 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42859/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42859/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-42859
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-42859
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-42859

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42859/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.