xerces-c: Null pointer dereference while processing the path to DTD allows denial of service
Published Mar 1, 2018
9.8
CRITICALCVSS 3.0
EPSS 8.36%
Description
In Apache Xerces-C XML Parser library before 3.2.1, processing of external DTD paths can result in a null pointer dereference under certain conditions.
Affected products
-
- Version < 3.2.1StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache Software Foundation | Apache Xerces C++ | n/a |
|
- < 3.2.1
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
xerces-c
Affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
xerces-c
Affected
Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2
xerces-c
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise MRG 3
xerces-c
Will not fix
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | xerces-c | Affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | xerces-c | Affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 | xerces-c | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise MRG 3 | xerces-c | Will not fix | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
Red Hat Enterprise MRG and MRG-Messaging are currently in Maintenance phase. This issue has been rated as having Moderate security impact, and is not currently planned to be addressed in future releases of MRG or MRG-Messaging. For more information, refer to the Issue Severity Classification and the Life Cycle and Update Policies: https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/update_policies/
Red Hat mitigation
Applications should strongly consider blocking remote entity resolution and/or outright disabling of DTD processing in light of the continued identification of bugs in this area of the library.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
1 other source (Red Hat) ▾
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (24 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 8.36% (0.08357) | 94.80th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Aug 23, 2026 | 7.36% (0.07360) | 94.02th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 8.75% (0.08751) | 94.47th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Feb 13, 2026 | 5.32% (0.05316) | 89.80th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jan 27, 2026 | 3.88% (0.03883) | 87.93th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Aug 30, 2025 | 5.20% (0.05196) | 89.53th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 30, 2025 | 1.58% (0.01579) | 79.87th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 29, 2025 | 3.25% (0.03252) | 78.36th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 1.58% (0.01579) | 80.31th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jul 20, 2024 | 2.76% (0.02756) | 90.70th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Oct 19, 2023 | 2.76% (0.02756) | 89.40th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Sep 1, 2023 | 2.94% (0.02935) | 89.53th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jul 23, 2023 | 2.25% (0.02255) | 88.09th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 30, 2023 | 3.39% (0.03388) | 89.94th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 3.47% (0.03466) | 90.02th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 18.20% (0.18200) | 96.30th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 18.20% (0.18200) | 95.96th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 18.20% (0.18200) | 93.54th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 14.56% (0.14565) | 89.71th | v1 |
| Jan 21, 2022 | 14.56% (0.14565) | 89.66th | v1 |
| Jan 6, 2022 | 3.66% (0.03661) | 71.91th | v1 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | 3.66% (0.03661) | 82.72th | v1 |
| Jul 31, 2021 | 3.66% (0.03661) | 0.00th | v1 |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 3.06% (0.03065) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (10)
- http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2018/q1/203 mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103219 vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- http://xerces.apache.org/xerces-c/secadv/CVE-2017-12627.txt x_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-12627 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1551525 Issue Tracking
- https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10365 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/03/msg00032.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12627
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-12627
- https://xerces.apache.org/xerces-c/secadv/CVE-2017-12627.txt
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2018/q1/203 | mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory | |
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103219 | vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry | |
| http://xerces.apache.org/xerces-c/secadv/CVE-2017-12627.txt | x_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-12627 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1551525 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10365 | x_refsource_CONFIRM | |
| https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/03/msg00032.html | mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12627 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-12627 | ||
| https://xerces.apache.org/xerces-c/secadv/CVE-2017-12627.txt |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.