CVE-2026-72522

expat: libexpat: Denial of Service due to incorrect Unicode surrogate handling

Published Aug 10, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 6.2 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
libexpat before 2.8.3 has an out-of-bounds read and resultant infinite loop because low surrogates are treated the same as high surrogates during Unicode processing in the *_toUtf16 functions.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4765-1 expat security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6446-1 expat security update
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title expat: libexpat: Denial of Service due to incorrect Unicode surrogate handling
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Moderate

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description libexpat before 2.8.3 has an out-of-bounds read and resultant infinite loop because low surrogates are treated the same as high surrogates during Unicode processing in the *_toUtf16 functions.
First Time appeared Libexpat Project
Libexpat Project libexpat
Weaknesses CWE-125
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:libexpat_project:libexpat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Libexpat Project
Libexpat Project libexpat
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.2, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
mitre
Published
Updated
Nov 10, 2026, 12:49 PM
Reserved
Aug 10, 2026, 3:28 AM
Status
Deferred
Published
Aug 10, 2026, 4:16 AM
Modified
Nov 10, 2026, 1:19 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Aug 10, 2026, 3:28 AM