---
id: CVE-2026-74860
title: A flaw was found in libxml2 with Python bindings enabled
summary: >-
  A flaw was found in libxml2 with Python bindings enabled. A remote attacker
  could exploit this vulnerability by providing a specially crafted XML document
  containing a Document Type Definition (DTD) with enumerated attribute values.
  This…
severity: high
cvss: 8.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-763
vendor: Red Hat
product: libxml2
affected:
  - libxml2 (all versions)
  - libxml2 (all versions)
  - libxml2 (all versions)
  - libxml2 (all versions)
  - libxml2 (all versions)
  - libxml2-main (all versions)
  - podman
  - libxml2 (all versions)
  - libxml2 (all versions)
  - 'container-tools:rhel8/podman'
  - podman
  - swift-lang
  - openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8
  - openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9
  - podman
patched:
  - hardened_images
published: '2026-09-08'
updated: '2026-09-24'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-24T21:18:36.050'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74860'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:64463'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71585'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71586'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71641'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-74860'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2529697'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-74860.json
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74860'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74860'
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-09-08T12:08:31.722346Z'
epss: 0.00661
epssPercentile: 0.49493
ingestedAt: '2026-09-08T15:33:26.983Z'
---

## Overview

A flaw was found in libxml2 with Python bindings enabled. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by providing a specially crafted XML document containing a Document Type Definition (DTD) with enumerated attribute values. This triggers a double-free error in the SAX attributeDecl callback handler, where a string is freed twice. This flaw can lead to a denial of service (DoS) due to a reproducible crash in Python applications using the libxml2 SAX bindings.

## Remediation

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

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Important · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 · updated 2026-09-24 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-74860.json)
- **RHSA-2026:64463** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Hardened Images · released 2026-09-06 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:64463)
- **RHSA-2026:71586** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10), Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10), Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) · released 2026-09-24 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71586)
- **RHSA-2026:71641** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8), Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) · released 2026-09-24 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71641)
- **RHSA-2026:71585** · Red Hat · fixed in: Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9), Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) · released 2026-09-24 · [advisory](https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:71585)