Critical severity9.8NVD Advisory· Published May 11, 2026· Updated May 16, 2026
CVE-2026-7210
CVE-2026-7210
Description
xml.parsers.expat and xml.etree.ElementTree use insufficient entropy for Expat hash-flooding protection, which allows a crafted XML document to trigger hash flooding.\r\n\r\nFully mitigating this vulnerability requires both updating libexpat to 2.8.0 or later and applying this patch.
Affected products
1Patches
124b8f1254446gh-149018: Use `XML_SetHashSalt16Bytes` in `pyexpat`/`_elementtree` when possible (#149023)
5 files changed · +26 −6
Include/internal/pycore_pyhash.h+5 −3 modified@@ -27,14 +27,14 @@ _Py_HashPointerRaw(const void *ptr) * pppppppp ssssssss ........ fnv -- two Py_hash_t * k0k0k0k0 k1k1k1k1 ........ siphash -- two uint64_t * ........ ........ ssssssss djbx33a -- 16 bytes padding + one Py_hash_t - * ........ ........ eeeeeeee pyexpat XML hash salt + * eeeeeeee eeeeeeee eeeeeeee pyexpat XML hash salt * * memory layout on 32 bit systems * cccccccc cccccccc cccccccc uc * ppppssss ........ ........ fnv -- two Py_hash_t * k0k0k0k0 k1k1k1k1 ........ siphash -- two uint64_t (*) * ........ ........ ssss.... djbx33a -- 16 bytes padding + one Py_hash_t - * ........ ........ eeee.... pyexpat XML hash salt + * eeeeeeee eeeeeeee eeee.... pyexpat XML hash salt * * (*) The siphash member may not be available on 32 bit platforms without * an unsigned int64 data type. @@ -58,7 +58,9 @@ typedef union { Py_hash_t suffix; } djbx33a; struct { - unsigned char padding[16]; + /* 16 bytes for XML_SetHashSalt16Bytes */ + uint8_t hashsalt16[16]; + /* 4/8 bytes for legacy XML_SetHashSalt */ Py_hash_t hashsalt; } expat; } _Py_HashSecret_t;
Include/pyexpat.h+3 −0 modified@@ -62,6 +62,9 @@ struct PyExpat_CAPI XML_Parser parser, unsigned long long activationThresholdBytes); XML_Bool (*SetBillionLaughsAttackProtectionMaximumAmplification)( XML_Parser parser, float maxAmplificationFactor); + /* might be NULL for expat < 2.8.0 */ + XML_Bool (*SetHashSalt16Bytes)( + XML_Parser parser, const uint8_t entropy[16]); /* always add new stuff to the end! */ };
Misc/NEWS.d/next/Security/2026-04-26-19-30-45.gh-issue-149018.a9SqWb.rst+3 −0 added@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +Improved protection against XML hash-flooding attacks in +:mod:`xml.parsers.expat` and :mod:`xml.etree.ElementTree` when Python is +compiled with libExpat 2.8.0 or later.
Modules/_elementtree.c+6 −2 modified@@ -3735,8 +3735,12 @@ _elementtree_XMLParser___init___impl(XMLParserObject *self, PyObject *target, PyErr_NoMemory(); return -1; } - /* expat < 2.1.0 has no XML_SetHashSalt() */ - if (EXPAT(st, SetHashSalt) != NULL) { + // Prefer 16-byte entropy, only expat >= 2.8.0. See gh-149018 + if (EXPAT(st, SetHashSalt16Bytes) != NULL) { + EXPAT(st, SetHashSalt16Bytes)(self->parser, + _Py_HashSecret.expat.hashsalt16); + } + else if (EXPAT(st, SetHashSalt) != NULL) { EXPAT(st, SetHashSalt)(self->parser, (unsigned long)_Py_HashSecret.expat.hashsalt); }
Modules/pyexpat.c+9 −1 modified@@ -1533,7 +1533,10 @@ newxmlparseobject(pyexpat_state *state, const char *encoding, Py_DECREF(self); return NULL; } -#if XML_COMBINED_VERSION >= 20100 +#if XML_COMBINED_VERSION >= 20800 + /* This feature was added upstream in libexpat 2.8.0. */ + XML_SetHashSalt16Bytes(self->itself, _Py_HashSecret.expat.hashsalt16); +#elif XML_COMBINED_VERSION >= 20100 /* This feature was added upstream in libexpat 2.1.0. */ XML_SetHashSalt(self->itself, (unsigned long)_Py_HashSecret.expat.hashsalt); @@ -2427,6 +2430,11 @@ pyexpat_exec(PyObject *mod) #else capi->SetHashSalt = NULL; #endif +#if XML_COMBINED_VERSION >= 20800 + capi->SetHashSalt16Bytes = XML_SetHashSalt16Bytes; +#else + capi->SetHashSalt16Bytes = NULL; +#endif #if XML_COMBINED_VERSION >= 20600 capi->SetReparseDeferralEnabled = XML_SetReparseDeferralEnabled; #else
Vulnerability mechanics
AI mechanics synthesis has not run for this CVE yet.
References
5- github.com/python/cpython/pull/149023nvdIssue TrackingPatch
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/11/13nvdMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/11/8nvdMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- mail.python.org/archives/list/security-announce@python.org/thread/PNY5OMBDPM2FRUZTWFFPJ6LISWKV627K/nvdMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- github.com/python/cpython/issues/149018nvdIssue Tracking
News mentions
1- ⚡ Weekly Recap: AI-Powered Phishing, Android Spying Tool, Linux Exploit, GitHub RCE & MoreThe Hacker News · May 4, 2026