CVE-2016-1978 json
Use-after-free vulnerability in the ssl3_HandleECDHServerKeyExchange function in Mozilla Network Security Services (NSS) before 3.21, as us…
published 2016-03-13 10 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-3067
- cvss
- 7.3
- version 3.0, NVD
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 2.4%
- EPSS 2.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 84%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
Use-after-free vulnerability in the ssl3_HandleECDHServerKeyExchange function in Mozilla Network Security Services (NSS) before 3.21, as used in Mozilla Firefox before 44.0, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact by making an SSL (1) DHE or (2) ECDHE handshake at a time of high memory consumption.
Patch / fix
- nss Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 2:3.21-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-1978
- nss Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 2:3.21-0ubuntu0.14.04.1
- firefox Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 44.0.2+build1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1
- thunderbird Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 1:38.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1
- thunderbird Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 1:38.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-1978
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
- nss-util RHEL 7 3.21.0-2.2.el7_2
- nss RHEL 7 3.21.0-9.el7_2
- nspr RHEL 7 4.11.0-1.el7_2
- nss-tools RHEL 7 3.21.0-9.el7_2
- nss-softokn RHEL 7 3.16.2.3-14.2.el7_2
- nss-sysinit RHEL 7 3.21.0-9.el7_2
- nss-softokn-freebl RHEL 7 3.16.2.3-14.2.el7_2
- nspr RHEL 6 4.11.0-0.1.el6_7
red hat advisories RHSA-2016:0685RHSA-2016:0591RHSA-2016:0684
- mozilla-nss SLES for SAP 11 SP4, SLES 11 SP4, SLES 11 SP3-TERADATA +3 more 3.20.2-28.1
- mozilla-nspr SLES for SAP 11 SP4, SLES 11 SP4, SLES 11 SP3-TERADATA +3 more 4.12-24.1
- MozillaFirefox SLES for SAP 11 SP4, SLES 11 SP4, SLES 11 SP3-TERADATA +3 more 38.7.0esr-37.3
- mozilla-nss SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES for SAP 12, SLES 12 SP1 +5 more 3.20.2-40.1
- mozilla-nspr SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES for SAP 12, SLES 12 SP1 +5 more 4.12-12.1
- MozillaFirefox SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES for SAP 12, SLES 12 SP1 +5 more 38.7.0esr-63.3
- mozilla-nss SLES 11 SP2-LTSS 3.20.2-20.1
- mozilla-nspr SLES 11 SP2-LTSS 4.12-19.1
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2016:0909-1SUSE-SU-2016:0777-1SUSE-SU-2016:0727-1
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-2016-1978 updated cvss 5.1
nss: Use-after-free in NSS during SSL connections in low memory (MFSA 2016-15)
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server) nss 3.21.0-6.el5_11, nspr 4.11.0-1.el5_11, nss-tools 3.21.0-6.el5_11fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0684
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) nss 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nspr 4.11.0-1.el7_2, nss-tools 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-util 3.21.0-2.2.el7_2, nss-sysinit 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-softokn 3.16.2.3-14.2.el7_2, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) nss-devel 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nspr-devel 4.11.0-1.el7_2, nss-debuginfo 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nspr-debuginfo 4.11.0-1.el7_2, nss-pkcs11-devel 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-util-devel 3.21.0-2.2.el7_2, +4 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) nss 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nspr 4.11.0-1.el7_2, nss-tools 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-util 3.21.0-2.2.el7_2, nss-sysinit 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-softokn 3.16.2.3-14.2.el7_2, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) nss-devel 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nspr-devel 4.11.0-1.el7_2, nss-debuginfo 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nspr-debuginfo 4.11.0-1.el7_2, nss-pkcs11-devel 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-util-devel 3.21.0-2.2.el7_2, +4 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0685
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client) nss 3.21.0-6.el5_11, nspr 4.11.0-1.el5_11, nss-tools 3.21.0-6.el5_11fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0684
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) nss 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nspr 4.11.0-0.1.el6_7, nss-util 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-tools 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-sysinit 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) nss-devel 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nspr-devel 4.11.0-0.1.el6_7, nss-debuginfo 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nspr-debuginfo 4.11.0-0.1.el6_7, nss-util-devel 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-pkcs11-devel 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, +1 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0591
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Workstation (v. 5 client) nss 3.21.0-6.el5_11, nspr 4.11.0-1.el5_11fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0684
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) nss 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nspr 4.11.0-0.1.el6_7, nss-util 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-tools 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-sysinit 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) nss-devel 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nspr-devel 4.11.0-0.1.el6_7, nss-debuginfo 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nspr-debuginfo 4.11.0-0.1.el6_7, nss-util-devel 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-pkcs11-devel 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) nss 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nspr 4.11.0-0.1.el6_7, nss-util 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-tools 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-sysinit 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0591
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) nss 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nspr 4.11.0-1.el7_2, nss-tools 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-util 3.21.0-2.2.el7_2, nss-sysinit 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-softokn 3.16.2.3-14.2.el7_2, +1 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0685
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) nss-debuginfo 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-pkcs11-devel 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0591
show 5 moreshow fewer
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) nss-debuginfo 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-pkcs11-devel 3.21.0-9.el7_2fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0685
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) nss 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nspr 4.11.0-0.1.el6_7, nss-util 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-tools 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-sysinit 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0591
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) nss 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nspr 4.11.0-1.el7_2, nss-tools 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-util 3.21.0-2.2.el7_2, nss-sysinit 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-softokn 3.16.2.3-14.2.el7_2, +1 morefixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0685
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) nss-debuginfo 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7, nss-pkcs11-devel 3.21.0-0.3.el6_7fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0591
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) nss-debuginfo 3.21.0-9.el7_2, nss-pkcs11-devel 3.21.0-9.el7_2fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:0685
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
2.39% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 84% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVD | 3.0 | 7.3 | CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L |
| NVD | 2.0 | 7.5 | AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P |
References
-
debian.org
/security/2016/dsa-3688
vendor-advisory
-
rhn.redhat.com
/errata/RHSA-2016-0684.html
vendor-advisory
-
lists.opensuse.org
/opensuse-security-announce/2016-03/msg00068.html
vendor-advisory
-
rhn.redhat.com
/errata/RHSA-2016-0685.html
vendor-advisory
-
lists.opensuse.org
/opensuse-security-announce/2016-03/msg00027.html
vendor-advisory
-
ubuntu.com
/usn/USN-2973-1
vendor-advisory
-
rhn.redhat.com
/errata/RHSA-2016-0591.html
vendor-advisory
-
lists.opensuse.org
/opensuse-security-announce/2016-03/msg00093.html
vendor-advisory
-
lists.opensuse.org
/opensuse-security-announce/2016-03/msg00050.html
vendor-advisory
-
security.gentoo.org
/glsa/201605-06
vendor-advisory
-
mozilla.org
/security/announce/2016/mfsa2016-15.html
vendor-advisory
- bto.bluecoat.com /security-advisory/sa124
- oracle.com /technetwork/topics/security/ovmbulletinjul2016-3090546.html
- oracle.com /technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinapr2016-2952096.html
- oracle.com /technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2016-2881720.html
-
securityfocus.com
/bid/84275
vdb-entry
- developer.mozilla.org /en-US/docs/Mozilla/Projects/NSS/NSS_3.21_release_notes
-
securitytracker.com
/id/1035258
vdb-entry
-
securityfocus.com
/bid/91787
vdb-entry
- bugzilla.mozilla.org /show_bug.cgi?id=1209546
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2016-1978
- NVD CVE-2016-1978
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.