CVE-2016-4809

Summary

CVE	CVE-2016-4809
State	PUBLISHED
Assigner	mitre
Source Priority	CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published	2016-09-21 14:25:05 UTC
Updated	2026-05-06 22:30:45 UTC
Description	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.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.0 7.5 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS: 0.025430000 probability, percentile 0.855490000 (date 2026-05-06)

Problem Types: CWE-20 | n/a

Version	Source	Type	Score	Severity	Vector
3.0	[email protected]	Primary	7.5	HIGH	`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`
2.0	[email protected]	Primary	5		`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`

CVSS v3.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector

Network

Access Complexity

Low

Authentication

None

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

Type	Vendor	Product	Version	Update	Edition	Language
Application	Libarchive	Libarchive	All	All	All	All
Operating System	Oracle	Linux	6	All	All	All
Operating System	Oracle	Linux	7	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Desktop	6.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Desktop	7.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Hpc Node	6.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Hpc Node	7.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Hpc Node Eus	7.2	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server	6.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server	7.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server Aus	7.2	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Server Eus	7.2	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Workstation	6.0	All	All	All
Operating System	Redhat	Enterprise Linux Workstation	7.0	All	All	All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

Source	Vendor	Product	Version	Platforms
CNA	Na	N/a	affected n/a	Not specified

References

Reference	Source	Link	Tags
Debian -- Security Information -- DSA-3657-1 libarchive	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.debian.org
libarchive: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 201701-03) — Gentoo security	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	security.gentoo.org
Oracle Linux Bulletin - July 2016	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.oracle.com	Third Party Advisory
Bug 1347084 – CVE-2016-4809 libarchive: Memory allocate error with symbolic links in cpio archives	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	bugzilla.redhat.com	Issue Tracking
Reject cpio symlinks that exceed 1MB · libarchive/libarchive@fd7e0c0 · GitHub	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	github.com	Issue Tracking, Patch
memory allocate error · Issue #705 · libarchive/libarchive · GitHub	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	github.com	Issue Tracking, Patch
Red Hat Customer Portal	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	rhn.redhat.com	Third Party Advisory
Red Hat Customer Portal	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	rhn.redhat.com	Third Party Advisory
libarchive CVE-2016-4809 Denial Of Service Vulnerability	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	www.securityfocus.com	Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
CVE Program record	CVE.ORG	www.cve.org	canonical
NVD vulnerability detail	NVD	nvd.nist.gov	canonical, analysis

No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.

Legacy QID Mappings

710502 Gentoo Linux libarchive Multiple Vulnerabilities (GLSA 201701-03)