CVE-2016-4431

Apache Struts 2 2.3.20 through 2.3.28.1 allows remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions and conduct redirection attacks by leveraging a default method.

Published: 2016-07-04 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2016-4431 is rated High Risk (65.1/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 10.01%, 95th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +1.84% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize 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-2016-4431

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 8.17% 10.01% +1.84%
2 2026-03-30 12.04% 8.17% -3.87%
3 2026-03-17 12.04%

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-4431

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:H/A:N 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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N 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:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-4431

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2016-4431

GHSA-vq79-mgpx-2wx4 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: maven — Apache Struts Access Control Redirect

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-4431

vendor priority summary link
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-4431
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-4431 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libstruts1.2-java), 11 status rows across 11 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 9, ignored 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-4431

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-4431

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache struts 2.3.20 cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.20:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache struts 2.3.20.1 cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.20.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache struts 2.3.20.3 cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.20.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache struts 2.3.24 cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.24:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache struts 2.3.24.1 cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.24.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache struts 2.3.24.3 cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.24.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache struts 2.3.28 cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:2.3.28:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-4431

cvelogic Threat Intelligence