CVE-2016-3705

The (1) xmlParserEntityCheck and (2) xmlParseAttValueComplex functions in parser.c in libxml2 2.9.3 do not properly keep track of the recursion depth, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (stack consumption and application crash) via a crafted XML document containing a large number of nested entity references.

Published: 2016-05-17 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-3705 is rated High Risk (66.2/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 5.10%, 91th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +4.22% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-3705

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.88% 5.10% +4.22%
2 2026-05-13 1.05% 0.88% -0.17%
3 2026-05-12 — 1.05% —

Full EPSS history (20 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-3705

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-3705

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-3705

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-3705 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libxml2), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-3705
gentoo normal CVE-2016-3705: 1 GLSA(s) (201701-37), 1 atom(s) (dev-libs/libxml2); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-3705
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-3705
suse high CVE-2016-3705 severity important: SUSE including 132 source package names (libxml2, libxml2-2, …), 298 product×package rows across 75 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE Liberty Linux 7, … (75 product lines)): Fixed 218, Known Not Affected 80. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-3705/
ubuntu low CVE-2016-3705 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libxml2), 7 status rows across 7 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): released 5, not-affected 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-3705

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-3705

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
canonical ubuntu_linux 12.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 15.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:15.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
xmlsoft libxml2 2.9.3 cpe:2.3:a:xmlsoft:libxml2:2.9.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
hp icewall_federation_agent 3.0 cpe:2.3:a:hp:icewall_federation_agent:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
hp icewall_file_manager 3.0 cpe:2.3:a:hp:icewall_file_manager:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 42.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:42.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-3705

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-05/msg00055.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-05/msg00127.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2957.html
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/May/10
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjul2016-3090568.html
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinjul2016-3090544.html
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/ovmbulletinjul2016-3090546.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/89854
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2994-1
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016:1292
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=765207
https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05157239
https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10170
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-37
https://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3593
https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2016-18
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