Process crash via unchecked shell command copy
Published Jun 16, 2025 · Updated Aug 25, 2026
Stack-based buffer overflow in the xmllint interactive shell in libxml2 before 2.14.5 allows local users to crash the process with a long command. The shell command handler copies an attacker-controlled command argument with strcpy into a fixed-size stack buffer without checking its length. Exploitation requires a user to run interactive shell mode and supply or receive crafted input; protected builds limit the demonstrated impact to a process crash.
Summary
What happened
Stack-based buffer overflow in the xmllint interactive shell in libxml2 before 2.14.5 allows local users to crash the process with a long command. The shell command handler copies an attacker-controlled command argument with strcpy into a fixed-size stack buffer without checking its length. Exploitation requires a user to run interactive shell mode and supply or receive crafted input; protected builds limit the demonstrated impact to a process crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-6170
- Published
- Jun 16, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 25, 2026
- Vendor
- XMLSoft
- Product
- libxml2
- Classifications
- CWE-121, T1203
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 16, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 25, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <2.14.5
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo