Ubuntu 16.04 ESM / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS : libxml2 vulnerabilities (USN-4991-1)

critical Nessus Plugin ID 150858

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing one or more security updates.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 16.04 ESM / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the USN-4991-1 advisory.

Yunho Kim discovered that libxml2 incorrectly handled certain error conditions. A remote attacker could exploit this with a crafted XML file to cause a denial of service, or possibly cause libxml2 to expose sensitive information. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 ESM, and Ubuntu 16.04 ESM. (CVE-2017-8872)

Zhipeng Xie discovered that libxml2 incorrectly handled certain XML schemas. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 ESM, Ubuntu 16.04 ESM, and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. (CVE-2019-20388)

It was discovered that libxml2 incorrectly handled invalid UTF-8 input. A remote attacker could possibly exploit this with a crafted XML file to cause libxml2 to crash, resulting in a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 ESM, Ubuntu 16.04 ESM, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and Ubuntu 20.10. (CVE-2020-24977)

It was discovered that libxml2 incorrectly handled invalid UTF-8 input. A remote attacker could possibly exploit this with a crafted XML file to cause libxml2 to crash, resulting in a denial of service.
(CVE-2021-3517)

It was discovered that libxml2 did not properly handle certain crafted XML files. A local attacker could exploit this with a crafted input to cause libxml2 to crash, resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2021-3516, CVE-2021-3518)

It was discovered that libxml2 incorrectly handled error states. A remote attacker could exploit this with a crafted XML file to cause libxml2 to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2021-3537)

Sebastian Pipping discovered that libxml2 did not properly handle certain crafted XML files. A remote attacker could exploit this with a crafted XML file to cause libxml2 to crash, resulting in a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.10, and Ubuntu 21.04. (CVE-2021-3541)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the affected packages.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4991-1

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 150858

File Name: ubuntu_USN-4991-1.nasl

Version: 1.8

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 6/17/2021

Updated: 8/27/2024

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Continuous Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 5.9

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2021-3517

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 9.1

Temporal Score: 8.2

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2017-8872

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:python-libxml2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:python3-libxml2, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libxml2, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libxml2-udeb, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libxml2-dev, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:esm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libxml2-utils

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/Ubuntu, Host/Ubuntu/release, Host/Debian/dpkg-l

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 6/17/2021

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/10/2017

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2017-8872, CVE-2019-20388, CVE-2020-24977, CVE-2021-3516, CVE-2021-3517, CVE-2021-3518, CVE-2021-3537, CVE-2021-3541

USN: 4991-1