Description
Asterisk is an open source private branch exchange and telephony toolkit. Prior to versions 20.7-cert9, 20.18.2, 21.12.1, 22.8.2, and 23.2.2, the ast_xml_open() function in xml.c parses XML documents using libxml with unsafe parsing options that enable entity expansion and XInclude processing. Specifically, it invokes xmlReadFile() with the XML_PARSE_NOENT flag and later processes XIncludes via xmlXIncludeProcess().If any untrusted or user-supplied XML file is passed to this function, it can allow an attacker to trigger XML External Entity (XXE) or XInclude-based local file disclosure, potentially exposing sensitive files from the host system. This can also be triggered in other cases in which the user is able to supply input in xml format that triggers the asterisk process to parse it. This issue has been patched in versions 20.7-cert9, 20.18.2, 21.12.1, 22.8.2, and 23.2.2.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| asterisk | asterisk | < 23.2.2, < 22.8.2, < 21.12.1, < 20.18.2, < 20.7-cert9 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | asterisk | 1:22.8.2+dfsg+~cs6.15.60671435-1 | — |
| Debian 11 | asterisk | 1:16.28.0~dfsg-0+deb11u9 | DLA-4515-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | asterisk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | asterisk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | asterisk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | asterisk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | asterisk | No fix yet | — |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | asterisk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | asterisk | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | asterisk | No fix yet | — |
Advisories 2
- WID-SEC-2026-0327 Asterisk: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 4, 2026
- DLA-4515-1 asterisk - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 29, 2026