---
id: CVE-2026-44033
title: >-
  Uncontrolled recursion in XMLNode::ParseXMLElement() and
  XMLNode::emptyTheNode() in the bundled XML parser (ofstd/libsrc/ofxml.cc) of
  OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service (stack
  exhaustion and process crash) …
summary: >-
  Uncontrolled recursion in XMLNode::ParseXMLElement() and
  XMLNode::emptyTheNode() in the bundled XML parser (ofstd/libsrc/ofxml.cc) of
  OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service (stack
  exhaustion and process crash) …
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-674
vendor: OFFIS
product: DCMTK
affected:
  - DCMTK 3.7.0
published: '2026-10-08'
updated: '2026-10-08'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-08T15:17:53.693'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44033'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/DCMTK/dcmtk/commit/d12e350e687530eb41e2b0c860aff4d8c04e5941
    label: 33c584b5-0579-4c06-b2a0-8d8329fcab9c
  - url: 'https://support.dcmtk.org/redmine/issues/1214'
    label: 33c584b5-0579-4c06-b2a0-8d8329fcab9c
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-10-08T14:10:03.806437Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-10-08T13:42:55.144Z'
---

## Overview

Uncontrolled recursion in XMLNode::ParseXMLElement() and XMLNode::emptyTheNode() in the bundled XML parser (ofstd/libsrc/ofxml.cc) of OFFIS DCMTK 3.7.0 allows an attacker to cause a denial of service (stack exhaustion and process crash) via a crafted XML document with deeply nested elements. The parser is reachable through dcmencap when encapsulating a CDA document, and through any application that calls OFXMLParser::parseFile() or OFXMLParser::parseString() on untrusted input. The issue is fixed in commit d12e350e687530eb41e2b0c860aff4d8c04e5941.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.