libxml2 Uncontrolled Recursion Vulnerability Leading to Denial-of-Service

A denial-of-service vulnerability has been identified in libxml2, an XML parsing library. This issue arises from uncontrolled recursion in the xmlCatalogXMLResolveURI function, specifically when an XML catalog includes a delegate URI entry that references itself. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by supplying a specially crafted XML catalog, causing infinite recursion and exhaustion of the call stack. The result is a segmentation fault that crashes affected applications.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability leads to a denial-of-service condition by causing applications to crash. Additionally, the uncontrolled recursion can exhaust system resources, such as CPU and memory, before the application fails.