📄 Description (English)
A flaw was found in the `github.com/antchfx/xpath` component. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting crafted Boolean XPath expressions that evaluate to true. This can cause an infinite loop in the `logicalQuery.Select` function, leading to 100% CPU utilization and a Denial of Service (DoS) condition for the affected system.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2026-4645 is a Denial of Service vulnerability in the antchfx/xpath Go library that allows remote attackers to trigger infinite loops through crafted Boolean XPath expressions, causing 100% CPU utilization. With a CVSS score of 7.5 and no patch currently available, this poses an immediate risk to any Saudi organization using this component in production systems. The vulnerability requires no authentication and can be exploited remotely, making it a significant threat to web applications and XML processing services.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: May 1, 2026 20:00
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability poses significant risk to Saudi banking sector (SAMA-regulated institutions) using XPath for XML parsing in payment processing systems, government agencies (NCA oversight) processing XML documents, healthcare providers (MOH) handling patient data in XML format, and telecommunications companies (STC, Mobily) using XPath in network management systems. Energy sector (ARAMCO, SEC) systems processing XML configuration files are also at risk. The DoS impact could disrupt critical services and violate SAMA's operational resilience requirements and NCA's availability mandates.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Banking and Financial Services (SAMA-regulated)
Government and Public Administration (NCA oversight)
Healthcare (MOH systems)
Energy and Utilities (ARAMCO, SEC)
Telecommunications (STC, Mobily)
E-commerce and Retail
Insurance
Education
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
8.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Identify all systems using antchfx/xpath library by scanning code repositories and dependencies (go.mod files, Docker images)
2. Implement input validation to reject or sanitize Boolean XPath expressions from untrusted sources
3. Deploy rate limiting on XPath query endpoints to prevent resource exhaustion
4. Enable CPU and memory monitoring with alerts for sustained >80% CPU utilization
COMPENSATING CONTROLS:
5. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block suspicious XPath patterns containing Boolean operators from external sources
6. Use request timeouts (set to 5-10 seconds) on all XPath query operations
7. Run affected services in containerized environments with CPU limits to prevent system-wide DoS
8. Implement circuit breakers to fail gracefully when XPath processing exceeds time thresholds
DETECTION:
9. Monitor for patterns: requests containing 'and', 'or', 'true()', 'false()' in XPath parameters
10. Alert on sustained CPU spikes correlating with XPath query submissions
11. Log all XPath expressions for forensic analysis
PATCHING:
12. Monitor antchfx/xpath GitHub repository for patch release
13. Prepare upgrade plan for immediate deployment once patch is available
14. Consider alternative XPath libraries if patch timeline is unacceptable
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع الأنظمة التي تستخدم مكتبة antchfx/xpath من خلال مسح المستودعات والمتعلقات (ملفات go.mod، صور Docker)
2. تطبيق التحقق من صحة المدخلات لرفض أو تنظيف تعبيرات XPath المنطقية من مصادر غير موثوقة
3. نشر تحديد معدل على نقاط نهاية استعلام XPath لمنع استنزاف الموارد
4. تفعيل مراقبة المعالج والذاكرة مع تنبيهات لاستهلاك مستدام >80%
الضوابط البديلة:
5. تطبيق قواعد جدار حماية تطبيقات الويب (WAF) لحجب أنماط XPath المريبة التي تحتوي على عوامل منطقية من مصادر خارجية
6. استخدام مهل زمنية للطلب (ضبط على 5-10 ثوان) على جميع عمليات استعلام XPath
7. تشغيل الخدمات المتأثرة في بيئات حاويات مع حدود المعالج لمنع حجب الخدمة على مستوى النظام
8. تطبيق قواطع الدوائر للفشل بشكل آمن عندما تتجاوز معالجة XPath حدود زمنية
الكشف:
9. مراقبة الأنماط: الطلبات التي تحتوي على 'and'، 'or'، 'true()'، 'false()' في معاملات XPath
10. تنبيه على ارتفاعات CPU المستدامة المرتبطة بتقديم استعلامات XPath
11. تسجيل جميع تعبيرات XPath للتحليل الجنائي
التصحيح:
12. مراقبة مستودع antchfx/xpath على GitHub لإصدار التصحيح
13. تحضير خطة الترقية للنشر الفوري بمجرد توفر التصحيح
14. النظر في مكتبات XPath البديلة إذا كان الجدول الزمني للتصحيح غير مقبول
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2024 A.5.1 - Information Security Policies (incident response for DoS)
ECC 2024 A.8.1 - Asset Management (inventory of vulnerable components)
ECC 2024 A.12.6 - Technical Vulnerability Management (patch management)
ECC 2024 A.13.1 - Network Security (DoS protection mechanisms)
🔵 SAMA CSF
SAMA CSF ID.BE-1 - Business Environment (operational resilience)
SAMA CSF PR.DS-6 - Data Security (input validation)
SAMA CSF DE.CM-1 - Detection and Analysis (monitoring and alerting)
SAMA CSF RS.MI-1 - Incident Response (mitigation of DoS impacts)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
ISO 27001:2022 A.5.1 - Policies for information security
ISO 27001:2022 A.8.1 - Asset management
ISO 27001:2022 A.12.6 - Management of technical vulnerabilities
ISO 27001:2022 A.13.1 - Network security
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0.1
PCI DSS 6.2 - Security patches for system components
PCI DSS 11.2 - Vulnerability scanning and management
🔗 References & Sources 5
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https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-4645
secalert@redhat.com
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2450214
secalert@redhat.com
https://github.com/antchfx/xpath/commit/afd4762cc342af56345a3fb4002a59281fcab494
secalert@redhat.com
https://github.com/antchfx/xpath/issues/121
secalert@redhat.com
https://github.com/golang/vulndb/issues/4526
secalert@redhat.com