CVE-2022-2309
7.5 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2022-2309 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting lxml lxml. It was published on July 5, 2022 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
NULL Pointer Dereference allows attackers to cause a denial of service (or application crash). This only applies when lxml is used together with libxml2 2.9.10 through 2.9.14. libxml2 2.9.9 and earlier are not affected. It allows triggering crashes through forged input data, given a vulnerable code sequence in the application. The vulnerability is caused by the iterwalk function (also used by the canonicalize function). Such code shouldn't be in wide-spread use, given that parsing + iterwalk would usually be replaced with the more efficient iterparse function. However, an XML converter that serialises to C14N would also be vulnerable, for example, and there are legitimate use cases for this code sequence. If untrusted input is received (also remotely) and processed via iterwalk function, a crash can be triggered.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from lxml. Update lxml to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| lxml | lxml | >= 0, < 4.9.1 | Affected |
| xmlsoft | libxml2 | 2.9.10 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2022-2309?
CVE-2022-2309 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting lxml lxml. It was published on July 5, 2022 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2022-2309?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2022-2309?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from lxml. Update lxml to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2022-2309?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2022-2309 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
Automated penetration testing that runs continuously, not just quarterly.
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Browser-based exploitation validates findings with real proof-of-concept.
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