CVE-2025-6170 | Libxml2: stack buffer overflow in xmllint interactive shell command handling

A flaw was found in the interactive shell of the xmllint command-line tool, used for parsing XML files. When a user inputs an overly long command, the program does not check the input size properly, which can cause it to crash. This issue might allow attackers to run harmful code in rare configurations without modern protections.

Published: 2025-06-16 Last update: 2026-06-02 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-6170 is rated Low Risk (13.9/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

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-2025-6170

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 2026-04-21 0.12% 0.04% -0.08%
2 2026-04-12 0.01% 0.12% +0.11%
3 2025-06-17 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-6170

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
2.5 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.0 1.4 [email protected]
2.5 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.0 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-6170

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-6170

GHSA-6qrf-r65h-2r77 · Severity: low — A flaw was found in the interactive shell of the xmllint command-line tool, used for parsing XML...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-6170

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2025-6170: 1 source package rows (libxml2); 4 state rows across 4 repos (3.21-main, 3.22-main, 3.23-main, edge-main); fixed 4, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2025-6170
debian unimportant CVE-2025-6170 unimportant 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-2025-6170
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-6170
suse medium CVE-2025-6170 severity moderate: SUSE including 340 source package names (0.23.1-11.20:libxml2-2-2.10.3-150500.5.29.1, 0.3.2-1.2:libxml2-2-2.10.3-150500.5.29.1, …), 1021 product×package rows across 371 product lines (Container bci/kiwi, Container bci/spack, … (371 product lines)): Fixed 759, Known Affected 221, Known Not Affected 41. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-6170/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-6170 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libxml2), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 8, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-6170

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-6170

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
redhat jboss_core_services — cpe:2.3:a:redhat:jboss_core_services:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openshift_container_platform 4.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
xmlsoft libxml2 — cpe:2.3:a:xmlsoft:libxml2:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-6170

cvelogic Threat Intelligence