CVE-2024-8176: Libexpat: expat: improper restriction of xml entity expansion depth in libexpat

Severity: high (CVSS 7.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 1.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-03-14 · updated 2026-10-21
Weakness: CWE-674

Description

A stack overflow vulnerability exists in the libexpat library due to the way it handles recursive entity expansion in XML documents. When parsing an XML document with deeply nested entity references, libexpat can be forced to recurse indefinitely, exhausting the stack space and causing a crash. This issue could lead to denial of service (DoS) or, in some cases, exploitable memory corruption, depending on the environment and library usage.

Affected products

Red Hat DevWorkspace Operator 0.33: all versions — fixed in 0.33-1744075017
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18: all versions
Red Hat Discovery 1.14: all versions — fixed in 1.14.2-1748467619, 1.14.3-1748529279
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10: all versions — fixed in 0:2.7.1-1.el10_0
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8: all versions — fixed in 0:1.51.0-11.el8_10, 0:2.2.5-17.el8_10
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Advanced Update Support: all versions — fixed in 0:1.51.0-5.el8_2.2, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support: all versions — fixed in 0:1.51.0-5.el8_4.2, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_4
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On: all versions — fixed in 0:2.2.10-1.el8_4
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Telecommunications Update Service: all versions — fixed in 0:1.51.0-5.el8_4.2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions: all versions — fixed in 0:1.51.0-5.el8_4.2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support: all versions — fixed in 0:1.51.0-6.el8_6.1, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_6
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Telecommunications Update Service: all versions — fixed in 0:1.51.0-6.el8_6.1, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_6
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Update Services for SAP Solutions: all versions — fixed in 0:1.51.0-6.el8_6.1, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_6
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Extended Update Support: all versions — fixed in 0:1.51.0-8.el8_8.1
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service: all versions — fixed in 0:2.2.10-1.el8_8
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions: all versions — fixed in 0:2.2.10-1.el8_8
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9: all versions — fixed in 0:2.5.0-3.el9_5.3, 0:2.5.0-5.el9_6
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions: all versions — fixed in 0:2.2.10-12.el9_0.4
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions: all versions — fixed in 0:2.5.0-1.el9_2.3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Extended Update Support: all versions — fixed in 0:2.5.0-2.el9_4.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Red Hat DevWorkspace Operator 0.33 0.33-1744075017; Red Hat Discovery 1.14 1.14.2-1748467619, 1.14.3-1748529279; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 0:2.7.1-1.el10_0; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 0:1.51.0-11.el8_10, 0:2.2.5-17.el8_10; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Advanced Update Support 0:1.51.0-5.el8_2.2, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_2; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support 0:1.51.0-5.el8_4.2, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_4; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On 0:2.2.10-1.el8_4; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Telecommunications Update Service 0:1.51.0-5.el8_4.2; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.51.0-5.el8_4.2; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support 0:1.51.0-6.el8_6.1, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_6; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Telecommunications Update Service 0:1.51.0-6.el8_6.1, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_6; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Update Services for SAP Solutions 0:1.51.0-6.el8_6.1, 0:2.2.10-1.el8_6. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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