CVE-2018-25282
Nmap 7.70 Denial of Service via XML Entity Expansion
Description
Nmap 7.70 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows local attackers to crash the application by processing malicious XML files with exponential entity expansion. Attackers can create a crafted XML file with nested entity definitions and open it through ZenMap's scan import functionality to cause the program to consume excessive system resources and crash.
INFO
Published Date :
April 26, 2026, 10:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
April 27, 2026, 6:55 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2018-25282
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | 83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10 | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | MITRE-CVE | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | [email protected] | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | MEDIUM | 83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10 | ||||
| CVSS 4.0 | MEDIUM | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update Nmap to version 7.71 or later.
- Avoid processing untrusted XML files.
- Configure XML parser to disable external entities.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2018-25282.
| URL | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://nmap.org/dist/nmap-7.70-setup.exe | |
| https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45357 | |
| https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nmap-denial-of-service-via-xml-entity-expansion |
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2018-25282 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2018-25282
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2018-25282 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2018-25282 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Apr. 26, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description Nmap 7.70 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows local attackers to crash the application by processing malicious XML files with exponential entity expansion. Attackers can create a crafted XML file with nested entity definitions and open it through ZenMap's scan import functionality to cause the program to consume excessive system resources and crash. Added CVSS V4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Added CWE CWE-674 Added Reference https://nmap.org/dist/nmap-7.70-setup.exe Added Reference https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45357 Added Reference https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/nmap-denial-of-service-via-xml-entity-expansion