CVE-2016-4809

The archive_read_format_cpio_read_header function in archive_read_support_format_cpio.c in libarchive before 3.2.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a CPIO archive with a large symlink.

Published: 2016-09-21 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-4809 is rated Moderate Risk (61.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.13%). 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-2016-4809

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 2026-05-27 2.54% 3.13% +0.59%
2 2026-01-14 2.85% 2.54% -0.31%
3 2025-12-18 — 2.85% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-4809

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-2016-4809

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-4809

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-4809 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libarchive), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-4809
gentoo normal CVE-2016-4809: 1 GLSA(s) (201701-03), 1 atom(s) (app-arch/libarchive); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-4809
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-4809
suse low CVE-2016-4809 severity low: SUSE including 276 source package names (amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20210304-hvm-ssd-x86_64, amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20220127-hvm-ssd-x86_64, …), 306 product×package rows across 59 product lines (SUSE Liberty Linux 7, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, … (59 product lines)): Known Affected 231, Fixed 75. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-4809/
ubuntu low CVE-2016-4809 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libarchive), 5 status rows across 5 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial): released 4, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-4809

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-4809

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_hpc_node 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_hpc_node:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_hpc_node 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_hpc_node:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_hpc_node_eus 7.2 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_hpc_node_eus:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.2 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.2 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle linux 6 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:linux:6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle linux 7 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:linux:7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
libarchive libarchive <= 3.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:libarchive:libarchive:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-4809

cvelogic Threat Intelligence