How severe is CVE-2017-16932?

CVE-2017-16932 has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2017-16932?

CVE-2017-16932 affects the following packages: nokogiri (RubyGems). Ecosystems affected: RubyGems.

How do I fix CVE-2017-16932?

Update nokogiri to 1.8.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-16932 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2017-16932 in my RubyGems dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for nokogiri, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2017-16932 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

Is CVE-2017-16932 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2017-16932 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2017-16932?

CVE-2017-16932 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 6.5%, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2017-16932?

CVE-2017-16932 is classified as CWE-835 (CWE-835). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2017-16932 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2017-16932 was published on November 23, 2017 and was last updated on October 24, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

💎

💎 RubyGems

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2017-16932 — nokogiri

HIGHFix: GNOME/libxml2@899a5d9

CVE-2017-16932 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-835 vulnerability in nokogiri. A fix is available for nokogiri — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Nokogiri gem, via libxml, is affected by DoS vulnerabilities

Also known asGHSA-x2fm-93ww-ggvx

Published

Nov 23, 2017

Updated

Oct 24, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2017-16932.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

6.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs94th percentile — riskier than 94% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

💎nokogiri

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects RubyGems packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

parser.c in libxml2 before 2.9.5 does not prevent infinite recursion in parameter entities.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
💎RubyGems	`nokogiri`	all versions	1.8.1`bundle update nokogiri --conservative`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

libxml2xmlsoft

≤ 2.9.4

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for nokogiri, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update nokogiri to 1.8.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-16932 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

Frequently Asked Questions