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Fencer Vulns
high 7.5

CVE-2016-4809 json

The archive_read_format_cpio_read_header function in archive_read_support_format_cpio.c in libarchive before 3.2.1 allows remote attackers…

published 2016-09-21 10 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-5791

cvss
7.5
version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
4.8%
EPSS 4.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 91%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The archive_read_format_cpio_read_header function in archive_read_support_format_cpio.c in libarchive before 3.2.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a CPIO archive with a large symlink.

Patch / fix

  • libarchive Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 3.2.1-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-4809

  • libarchive Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.1.2-7ubuntu2.3
  • libarchive Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 3.1.2-11ubuntu0.16.04.2

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-4809

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • libarchive RHEL 6 2.8.3-7.el6_8
  • libarchive RHEL 7 3.1.2-10.el7_2
  • bsdtar RHEL 7 3.1.2-10.el7_2
  • bsdcpio RHEL 7 3.1.2-10.el7_2

red hat advisories RHSA-2016:1850RHSA-2016:1844

  • bsdtar Studio Onsite 1.3, SLES for SAP 11 SP4, SLES 11 SP4 +8 more 2.5.5-9.1
  • libarchive SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES 12 SP1, SLED 12 SP1 +1 more 3.1.2-22.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2016:1939-1SUSE-SU-2016:1909-1

  • bsdtar openSUSE Tumbleweed 3.2.2-2.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10127-1

  • libarchive Alpine 3.4 3.2.1-r0

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2016-4809

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2016-4809 updated cvss 3.7

libarchive: Memory allocate error with symbolic links in cpio archives

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) bsdtar 3.1.2-10.el7_2, bsdcpio 3.1.2-10.el7_2, libarchive 3.1.2-10.el7_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) bsdtar 3.1.2-10.el7_2, bsdcpio 3.1.2-10.el7_2, libarchive 3.1.2-10.el7_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) bsdtar 3.1.2-10.el7_2, bsdcpio 3.1.2-10.el7_2, libarchive 3.1.2-10.el7_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) bsdtar 3.1.2-10.el7_2, bsdcpio 3.1.2-10.el7_2, libarchive 3.1.2-10.el7_2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1844
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) libarchive 2.8.3-7.el6_8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) libarchive 2.8.3-7.el6_8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) libarchive 2.8.3-7.el6_8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) libarchive 2.8.3-7.el6_8
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1850
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) bsdtar 3.1.2-10.el7_2, bsdcpio 3.1.2-10.el7_2, libarchive 3.1.2-10.el7_2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1844
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) libarchive 2.8.3-7.el6_8
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1850
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) bsdtar 3.1.2-10.el7_2, bsdcpio 3.1.2-10.el7_2, libarchive 3.1.2-10.el7_2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1844
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) libarchive 2.8.3-7.el6_8
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1850
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) bsdtar 3.1.2-10.el7_2, bsdcpio 3.1.2-10.el7_2, libarchive 3.1.2-10.el7_2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1844
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) libarchive 2.8.3-7.el6_8
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1850
show 1 more
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) bsdtar 3.1.2-10.el7_2, bsdcpio 3.1.2-10.el7_2, libarchive 3.1.2-10.el7_2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1844

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

4.77% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 91% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.0 7.5 CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD 2.0 5.0 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-20 Improper Input Validation

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.