Skip to content
Fencer Vulns
high 7.5

CVE-2021-42260 json

TinyXML through 2.6.2 has an infinite loop in TiXmlParsingData::Stamp in tinyxmlparser.cpp via the TIXML_UTF_LEAD_0 case.

published 2021-10-11 5 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2021-29236

cvss
7.5
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
3.4%
EPSS 3.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 88%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

TinyXML through 2.6.2 has an infinite loop in TiXmlParsingData::Stamp in tinyxmlparser.cpp via the TIXML_UTF_LEAD_0 case. It can be triggered by a crafted XML message and leads to a denial of service.

Patch / fix

  • tinyxml Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 2.6.2-6

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2021-42260

  • tinyxml Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 2.6.2-4+deb10u1build0.20.04.1
  • tinyxml Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 2.6.2-3ubuntu0.1~esm1
  • tinyxml Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS 2.6.2-4ubuntu0.18.04.1~esm1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2021-42260

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • tinyxml openSUSE Leap 15.2 2.6.2-lp152.4.3.1
  • tinyxml openSUSE Leap 15.3 2.6.2-3.3.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2021:1474-1openSUSE-SU-2021:3639-1

  • tinyxml Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +2 more 2.6.2-r2

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2021-42260

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

cisa ICSA-26-244-05 updated cvss 7.5

Rockwell Automation ControlLogix, CompactLogix, CompactLogix 5480, GuardLogix, Compact GuardLogix

  • Rockwell Automation Compact GuardLogix 5380 <34.015, <35.014, <36.013, <37.011 Rockwell Automation CompactLogix 5380 <34.015, <35.014, <36.013, <37.011 Rockwell Automation CompactLogix 5480 <34.015, <35.014, <36.013, <37.011 Rockwell Automation ControlLogix 5580 <34.015, <35.014, <36.013, <37.011 Rockwell Automation GuardLogix 5580 <34.015, <35.014, <36.013, <37.011
    affected: vendor fix, mitigation “Customers using the affected software who are not able to upgrade to one of the corrected versions should use Rockwell Automation's security best practices.”

From CISA ICS and IT advisories (CSAF, https://github.com/cisagov/CSAF), a U.S. Government work; changed: reduced to products, statuses and remediations. CISA notification · csaf

red hat product security vex CVE-2021-42260 updated cvss 7.5

tinyxml: infinite loop causes crash

  • Red Hat All currently supported Red Hat products
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

3.38% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 88% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • sourceforge.net https://sourceforge.net/p/tinyxml/bugs/141/ referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD 2.0 5.0 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-835 Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.