CVE-2026-93990 (GCVE-0-2026-93990)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-09-19 22:58
Modified
2026-09-28 16:11
CWE
  • CWE-176 - Improper Handling of Unicode Encoding
Summary
Expat before 2.8.5 fails to validate that a high surrogate in UTF-16 input is followed by a low surrogate, allowing malformed UTF-16 sequences to be accepted. Attackers can supply UTF-16 encoded XML containing lone high surrogates that consume the following code unit, causing Expat to pass unpaired surrogates to applications built with XML_UNICODE and to silently replace input characters in other builds.
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
libexpat libexpat Version: 0   ≤
Create a notification for this product.
Show details on NVD website


{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2026-93990",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "none"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "yes"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "partial"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2026-09-21T15:10:43.564847Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2026-09-21T15:13:37.622Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "packageURL": "pkg:github/libexpat/libexpat",
          "product": "libexpat",
          "repo": "https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat",
          "vendor": "libexpat",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "2.8.5",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "2.8.5",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:libexpat_project:libexpat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "2.8.5",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "type": "finder",
          "value": "Kartik Kenchi (netliomax25-code)"
        }
      ],
      "datePublic": "2026-09-18T00:00:00.000Z",
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Expat before 2.8.5 fails to validate that a high surrogate in UTF-16 input is followed by a low surrogate, allowing malformed UTF-16 sequences to be accepted. Attackers can supply UTF-16 encoded XML containing lone high surrogates that consume the following code unit, causing Expat to pass unpaired surrogates to applications built with XML_UNICODE and to silently replace input characters in other builds."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV4_0": {
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackRequirements": "NONE",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "baseScore": 8.7,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
            "version": "4.0",
            "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "vulnIntegrityImpact": "HIGH"
          },
          "format": "CVSS"
        },
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "availabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "baseScore": 7.5,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "scope": "UNCHANGED",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "format": "CVSS"
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-176",
              "description": "Improper Handling of Unicode Encoding",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-09-28T16:11:06.770Z",
        "orgId": "83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10",
        "shortName": "VulnCheck"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "name": "GitHub PR #1282",
          "tags": [
            "issue-tracking",
            "patch"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat/pull/1282"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "patch"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat/commit/ff6e1d7e750bbe245178f51a47a965dc8342861a"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "release-notes"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat/releases/tag/R_2_8_5"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "vendor-advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://blog.hartwork.org/posts/expat-2-8-5-released/"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "product"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat"
        },
        {
          "name": "VulnCheck Advisory: Expat through 2.8.4 Malformed UTF-16 Acceptance via Unchecked Surrogate",
          "tags": [
            "third-party-advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/expat-through-2.8.4-malformed-utf-16-acceptance-via-unchecked-surrogate"
        }
      ],
      "title": "Expat before 2.8.5 Malformed UTF-16 Acceptance via Unchecked Surrogate",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "vulncheck-endgame"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10",
    "assignerShortName": "VulnCheck",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-93990",
    "datePublished": "2026-09-19T22:58:11.224Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-19T10:55:49.093Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-09-28T16:11:06.770Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "vulnrichment": {
      "containers": "{\"adp\": [{\"title\": \"CISA ADP Vulnrichment\", \"metrics\": [{\"other\": {\"type\": \"ssvc\", \"content\": {\"id\": \"CVE-2026-93990\", \"role\": \"CISA Coordinator\", \"options\": [{\"Exploitation\": \"none\"}, {\"Automatable\": \"yes\"}, {\"Technical Impact\": \"partial\"}], \"version\": \"2.0.3\", \"timestamp\": \"2026-09-21T15:10:43.564847Z\"}}}], \"providerMetadata\": {\"orgId\": \"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0\", \"shortName\": \"CISA-ADP\", \"dateUpdated\": \"2026-09-21T15:11:05.367Z\"}}], \"cna\": {\"title\": \"Expat before 2.8.5 Malformed UTF-16 Acceptance via Unchecked Surrogate\", \"credits\": [{\"lang\": \"en\", \"type\": \"finder\", \"value\": \"Kartik Kenchi (netliomax25-code)\"}], \"metrics\": [{\"format\": \"CVSS\", \"cvssV4_0\": {\"version\": \"4.0\", \"baseScore\": 8.7, \"attackVector\": \"NETWORK\", \"baseSeverity\": \"HIGH\", \"vectorString\": \"CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N\", \"userInteraction\": \"NONE\", \"attackComplexity\": \"LOW\", \"attackRequirements\": \"NONE\", \"privilegesRequired\": \"NONE\", \"subIntegrityImpact\": \"NONE\", \"vulnIntegrityImpact\": \"HIGH\", \"subAvailabilityImpact\": \"NONE\", \"vulnAvailabilityImpact\": \"NONE\", \"subConfidentialityImpact\": \"NONE\", \"vulnConfidentialityImpact\": \"NONE\"}}, {\"format\": \"CVSS\", \"cvssV3_1\": {\"scope\": \"UNCHANGED\", \"version\": \"3.1\", \"baseScore\": 7.5, \"attackVector\": \"NETWORK\", \"baseSeverity\": \"HIGH\", \"vectorString\": \"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N\", \"integrityImpact\": \"HIGH\", \"userInteraction\": \"NONE\", \"attackComplexity\": \"LOW\", \"availabilityImpact\": \"NONE\", \"privilegesRequired\": \"NONE\", \"confidentialityImpact\": \"NONE\"}}], \"affected\": [{\"repo\": \"https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat\", \"vendor\": \"libexpat\", \"product\": \"libexpat\", \"versions\": [{\"status\": \"affected\", \"version\": \"0\", \"lessThan\": \"2.8.5\", \"versionType\": \"semver\"}, {\"status\": \"unaffected\", \"version\": \"2.8.5\", \"versionType\": \"semver\"}], \"packageURL\": \"pkg:github/libexpat/libexpat\", \"defaultStatus\": \"unaffected\"}], \"datePublic\": \"2026-09-18T00:00:00.000Z\", \"references\": [{\"url\": \"https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat/pull/1282\", \"name\": \"GitHub PR #1282\", \"tags\": [\"issue-tracking\", \"patch\"]}, {\"url\": \"https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat/commit/ff6e1d7e750bbe245178f51a47a965dc8342861a\", \"tags\": [\"patch\"]}, {\"url\": \"https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat/releases/tag/R_2_8_5\", \"tags\": [\"release-notes\"]}, {\"url\": \"https://blog.hartwork.org/posts/expat-2-8-5-released/\", \"tags\": [\"vendor-advisory\"]}, {\"url\": \"https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat\", \"tags\": [\"product\"]}, {\"url\": \"https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/expat-through-2.8.4-malformed-utf-16-acceptance-via-unchecked-surrogate\", \"name\": \"VulnCheck Advisory: Expat through 2.8.4 Malformed UTF-16 Acceptance via Unchecked Surrogate\", \"tags\": [\"third-party-advisory\"]}], \"x_generator\": {\"engine\": \"vulncheck-endgame\"}, \"descriptions\": [{\"lang\": \"en\", \"value\": \"Expat before 2.8.5 fails to validate that a high surrogate in UTF-16 input is followed by a low surrogate, allowing malformed UTF-16 sequences to be accepted. Attackers can supply UTF-16 encoded XML containing lone high surrogates that consume the following code unit, causing Expat to pass unpaired surrogates to applications built with XML_UNICODE and to silently replace input characters in other builds.\"}], \"problemTypes\": [{\"descriptions\": [{\"lang\": \"en\", \"type\": \"CWE\", \"cweId\": \"CWE-176\", \"description\": \"Improper Handling of Unicode Encoding\"}]}], \"cpeApplicability\": [{\"nodes\": [{\"negate\": false, \"cpeMatch\": [{\"criteria\": \"cpe:2.3:a:libexpat_project:libexpat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*\", \"vulnerable\": true, \"versionEndExcluding\": \"2.8.5\"}], \"operator\": \"OR\"}]}], \"providerMetadata\": {\"orgId\": \"83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10\", \"shortName\": \"VulnCheck\", \"dateUpdated\": \"2026-09-28T16:11:06.770Z\"}}}",
      "cveMetadata": "{\"cveId\": \"CVE-2026-93990\", \"state\": \"PUBLISHED\", \"dateUpdated\": \"2026-09-28T16:11:06.770Z\", \"dateReserved\": \"2026-09-19T10:55:49.093Z\", \"assignerOrgId\": \"83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10\", \"datePublished\": \"2026-09-19T22:58:11.224Z\", \"assignerShortName\": \"VulnCheck\"}",
      "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
      "dataVersion": "5.2"
    }
  }
}


Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.


Loading…

Loading…

Loading…

Sightings

Author Source Type Date

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or seen somewhere by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability is confirmed from an analyst perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: This vulnerability was exploited and seen by the user reporting the sighting.
  • Patched: This vulnerability was successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.
  • Not exploited: This vulnerability was not exploited or seen by the user reporting the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expresses doubt about the veracity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: This vulnerability was not successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.


Loading…

Loading…