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Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability · CVE-2017-9047

A buffer overflow was discovered in libxml2 20904-GITv2.9.4-16-g0741801.

Published May 18, 2017 · catalog updated Oct 14, 2026 · A buffer overflow was

Check if you run it

No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2017-9047. EPSS is 3.19%. Act only if a listed version of A buffer overflow was is installed.

Gaps on this record

  • The stored product name is a package slug. The name on this page is taken from the title (A buffer overflow was).
  • No vendor fix or required action is stored. Compare the linked advisory before you change production.
Severity
High7.5
Known exploitation
Not in CISA/VulnCheck KEV
EPSS
3.19%
Remediation
Advisory link
Affected products
cpe xmlsoft/libxml2

A buffer overflow was discovered in libxml2 20904-GITv2.9.4-16-g0741801. The function xmlSnprintfElementContent in valid.c is supposed to recursively dump the element content definition into a char buffer 'buf' of size 'size'. The variable len is assigned strlen(buf). If the content->type is XML_ELEMENT_CONTENT_ELEMENT, then (i) the content->prefix is appended to buf (if it actually fits) whereupon (ii) content->name is written to the buffer. However, the check for whether the content->name actually fits also uses 'len' rather than the updated buffer length strlen(buf). This allows us to write about "size" many bytes beyond the allocated memory. This vulnerability causes programs that use libxml2, such as PHP, to crash.

Are you affected?

Enter the version you run. The result uses only the ranges stored on this record.

The check returns affected, not affected, or incomplete. It does not guess a version that is missing from the record.

  • cpe xmlsoft/libxml22.9.4

How to fix CVE-2017-9047

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Should you patch?

No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2017-9047. EPSS is 3.19%. Act only if a listed version of A buffer overflow was is installed.

Which versions are affected?

Compare what you have installed with 2.9.4. Compare the installed version with the linked vendor advisory before you change production.

What should an analyst verify?

CWE-119: Buffer Overflow. EPSS 3.19%. There is no CISA KEV listing. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

No public source repository is identified for this product.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. May 18, 2017 · NIST NVD

    Detected

    A buffer overflow was discovered in libxml2 20904-GITv2.9.4-16-g0741801. The function xmlSnprintfElementContent in valid.c is supposed to recursively dump the element content definition into a char buffer 'buf' of size 'size'. The variable len is assigned strlen(buf). If the content->type is XML_ELEMENT_CONTENT_ELEMENT, then (i) the content->prefix is appended to buf (if it actually fits) whereupo

  2. Oct 14, 2026 · NIST NVD

    Updated

    A buffer overflow was discovered in libxml2 20904-GITv2.9.4-16-g0741801. The function xmlSnprintfElementContent in valid.c is supposed to recursively dump the element content definition into a char buffer 'buf' of size 'size'. The variable len is assigned strlen(buf). If the content->type is XML_ELEMENT_CONTENT_ELEMENT, then (i) the content->prefix is appended to buf (if it actually fits) whereupo

Sources

  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2017-9047

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2017-9047

    30-day exploitation probability 3.2%

    first.org
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2017-9047

    A buffer overflow was discovered in libxml2 20904-GITv2.9.4-16-g0741801. The function xmlSnprintfElementContent in valid.c is supposed to recursively dump the element content definition into a char buffer 'buf' of size 'size'. The variable len is assigned strlen(buf). If the cont

    nvd.nist.gov

References

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 16, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.