Application crash via unbounded XML element recursion
Published Sep 23, 2026 · Updated Sep 23, 2026
Uncontrolled recursion in Qt Framework allows attackers to crash applications through a deeply nested XML document. QXmlStreamReader::readElementText() recursively processes nested child elements without enforcing a nesting-depth bound, exhausting the process stack. The condition is reachable only when a consuming application passes attacker-controlled XML to this API; the bounded consequence is termination of that application.
Summary
What happened
Uncontrolled recursion in Qt Framework allows attackers to crash applications through a deeply nested XML document. QXmlStreamReader::readElementText() recursively processes nested child elements without enforcing a nesting-depth bound, exhausting the process stack. The condition is reachable only when a consuming application passes attacker-controlled XML to this API; the bounded consequence is termination of that application.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-78253
- Published
- Sep 23, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Qt Company
- Product
- Qt Framework
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 23, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 23, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.0.0 <=6.8.8
- Affected versionversion=6.9.0 <=6.11.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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