CVE-2026-4980
Description
A vulnerability was found in Inkscape due to improper handling of XInclude elements in SVG files. The application processes xi:include directives without restricting access to local resources, allowing external file references such as file:// URIs to be included during document processing. An attacker could exploit this by crafting a malicious SVG file that references sensitive local files. When the file is opened or processed by Inkscape, the contents of the referenced files may be embedded in the output, leading to unauthorized disclosure of local information.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated Moderate severity as even if the remote attacker wants to exploit it; it requires a local user to pass/process a specially crafted SVG file to the Inkscape. The issue arises from unrestricted XInclude processing, which allows external file references to be resolved and included in the output. Successful exploitation can result in disclosure of sensitive local files. The scope is changed (S:C) because the vulnerability allows access to resources or file system outside the intended application boundary. There is no impact on integrity or availability.
The vulnerable code was introduced in Inkscape beginning with version 1.1, when XInclude support was added.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7, and 8 ship older versions of Inkscape that do not include XInclude support; therefore, the vulnerable code is not present in these releases.
Mitigation
Red Hat is not aware of a practical temporary workaround that fully mitigates this issue or meets Red Hat Product Security's standards for usability, deployment, applicability, or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.3 | N/A | 6.3 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | Required |
| Scope | Changed | N/A | Changed |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Read Files or Directories
If the attacker is able to include a crafted DTD and a default entity resolver is enabled, the attacker may be able to access arbitrary files on the system. By submitting an XML file that defines an external entity with a file:// URI, an attacker can cause the processing application to read the contents of a local file. For example, a URI such as "file:///c:/winnt/win.ini" designates (in Windows) the file C:\Winnt\win.ini, or file:///etc/passwd designates the password file in Unix-based systems. Once the content of the URI is read, it is fed back into the application that is processing the XML. This application may echo back the data (e.g., in an error message), thereby exposing the file contents.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
An attacker may supply a crafted DTD using URIs with schemes such as http://, forcing the application to make outgoing HTTP requests to servers that the attacker cannot reach directly, which can be used to bypass firewall restrictions; hide the source of attacks such as port scanning; or otherwise leverage the server's trust relationship with other entities.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)
The product could consume excessive CPU cycles or memory using a URI that points to a large file, or a device that always returns data such as /dev/random. Alternately, the URI could reference a file that contains many nested or recursive entity references to further slow down parsing.
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