CVE-2016-1531

Exp

Exim before 4.86.2, when installed setuid root, allows local users to gain privileges via the perl_startup argument.

Published: 2016-04-07 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-1531 is rated High Exploit Risk (70.3/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 5.90%, 92th percentile). 5 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2016-1531

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
39702 exploit_db edb 2016-04-15 Exploit-DB ↗
39549 exploit_db edb 2016-03-10 Exploit-DB ↗
39535 exploit_db edb 2016-03-09 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-1531

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 56.77% 5.90% -50.87%
2 2026-03-25 54.26% 56.77% +2.51%
3 2026-03-05 — 54.26% —

Full EPSS history (53 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-1531

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.0 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.0 5.9 [email protected]
6.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.4 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-1531

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-1531

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-1531 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (exim4), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-1531
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-1531
suse medium CVE-2016-1531 severity moderate: SUSE including 3 source package names (exim-4.86.2-2.2, eximon-4.86.2-2.2, eximstats-html-4.86.2-2.2), 3 product×package rows across 1 product lines (openSUSE Tumbleweed): Fixed 3. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-1531/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-1531 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (exim4), 4 status rows across 4 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily): released 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-1531

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-1531

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
exim exim <= 4.86 cpe:2.3:a:exim:exim:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-1531

cvelogic Threat Intelligence