| Package | xerces-c |
|---|---|
| Version | 3.1.1-5.1+deb8u5 |
| Related CVEs | CVE-2018-1311 |
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) discovered that Xerces-C, a validating XML parser library for C++, contains a use-after-free error triggered during the scanning of external DTDs. An attacker could cause a Denial of Service (DoS) and possibly achieve remote code execution. This flaw has not been addressed in the maintained version of the library and has no complete mitigation. The first is provided by this update which fixes the use-after-free vulnerability at the expense of a memory leak. The other is to disable DTD processing, which can be accomplished via the DOM using a standard parser feature, or via SAX using the XERCES_DISABLE_DTD environment variable.
For Debian 8 jessie, these problems have been fixed in version 3.1.1-5.1+deb8u5.
We recommend that you upgrade your xerces-c packages.
Further information about Extended LTS security advisories can be found in the dedicated section of our website.