CVE-2016-4461

Apache Struts 2.x before 2.3.29 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a "%{}" sequence in a tag attribute, aka forced double OGNL evaluation. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2016-0785.

Published: 2017-10-16 Last update: 2026-05-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-4461 is rated High Risk (73.2/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 8.34%, 94th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +7.20% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. 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-2016-4461

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 1.14% 8.34% +7.20%
2 2026-06-01 1.70% 1.14% -0.56%
3 2026-03-30 — 1.70% —

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-4461

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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: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.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]
9.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C 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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 8.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-4461

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2016-4461

GHSA-864w-r5qj-h6fj · Severity: high · Ecosystem: maven — Apache Struts forced double OGNL evaluation

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-4461

vendor priority summary link
ubuntu high CVE-2016-4461 high priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libstruts1.2-java), 4 status rows across 4 suites (trusty, upstream, xenial, zesty): DNE 3, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-4461

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-4461

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache struts >= 2.0.0, < 2.3.29 cpe:2.3:a:apache:struts:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp oncommand_balance — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:oncommand_balance:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-4461

URL Tags
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/91277 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20180629-0004/ Third Party Advisory
https://struts.apache.org/docs/s2-036.html Mitigation Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence