CVE-2016-2146

The am_read_post_data function in mod_auth_mellon before 0.11.1 does not limit the amount of data read, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (worker process crash, web server deadlock, or memory consumption) via a large amount of POST data.

Published: 2016-04-15 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-2146 is rated Moderate Risk (63.3/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.40%). EPSS rose +2.75% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-2146

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 0.65% 3.40% +2.75%
2 2025-07-26 1.19% 0.65% -0.54%
3 2025-07-13 — 1.19% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-2146

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-2146

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-2146

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-2146 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libapache2-mod-auth-mellon), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-2146
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-2146
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-2146 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libapache2-mod-auth-mellon), 11 status rows across 11 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): not-affected 7, DNE 2, ignored 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-2146

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-2146

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
fedoraproject fedora 23 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:23:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
uninett mod_auth_mellon <= 0.11.0 cpe:2.3:a:uninett:mod_auth_mellon:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-2146

cvelogic Threat Intelligence