CVE-2016-4463 [High] | Memory Corruption in Xerces-C\+\+

CVE-2016-4463 is rated Moderate Risk (63.5/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 14.14%, 96th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-07-01	14.25%	14.14%	-0.11%
2	2026-06-15	38.35%	14.25%	-24.10%
3	2026-01-30	—	38.35%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-07-01

14.25%

14.14%

-0.11%

2026-06-15

38.35%

14.25%

-24.10%

2026-01-30

—

38.35%

—

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]

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]

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-4463

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2016-4463 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (xerces-c), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-4463
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-4463
`suse`	medium	CVE-2016-4463 severity moderate: SUSE including 31 source package names (Xerces-c-2.8.0-29.17.5.1, libXerces-c-devel-2.8.0-29.17.5.1, …), 64 product×package rows across 36 product lines (SUSE Liberty Linux 7, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, … (36 product lines)): Fixed 64.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-4463/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2016-4463 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (xerces-c), 17 status rows across 17 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): not-affected 9, ignored 4, released 4.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-4463

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-4463

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
apache	xerces-c\+\+	<= 3.1.3	cpe:2.3:a:apache:xerces-c\+\+::::::::
debian	debian_linux	8.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2016-4463

URL	Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-07/msg00053.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-09/msg00013.html
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/137714/Apache-Xerces-C-XML-Parser-Crash.html
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2018-4258247.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/538784/100/0/threaded
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/91501
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036211
http://xerces.apache.org/xerces-c/secadv/CVE-2016-4463.txt
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3335
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3506
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3514
https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/XERCESC-2069
https://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/ReleaseNote.jspa?projectId=10510&version=12336069
https://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3610
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2020.html

URL

CVE-2016-4463

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-4463

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-4463

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-4463

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-4463

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-4463

References for CVE-2016-4463