CVE-2016-5131

Use-after-free vulnerability in libxml2 through 2.9.4, as used in Google Chrome before 52.0.2743.82, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly have unspecified other impact via vectors related to the XPointer range-to function.

Published: 2016-07-23 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-5131 is rated High Risk (65.8/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.69%). 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-2016-5131

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 2026-04-29 3.87% 3.69% -0.18%
2 2026-04-07 3.97% 3.87% -0.10%
3 2026-03-25 — 3.97% —

Full EPSS history (31 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-5131

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
8.8 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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]
6.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.6 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-5131

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-5131

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2016-5131: 2 source package rows (libxml2, libxml2.13); 11 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 11, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2016-5131
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-5131 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libxml2), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-5131
gentoo normal CVE-2016-5131: 2 GLSA(s) (201610-09, 201701-37), 2 atom(s) (dev-libs/libxml2, www-client/chromium); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-5131
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5131
suse medium CVE-2016-5131 severity moderate: SUSE including 291 source package names (0.9.1:libxml2-2-2.9.4-46.12.1, 1.0.0:libxml2-2-2.9.4-46.12.1, …), 384 product×package rows across 72 product lines (Container caasp/v4/default-http-backend, Container caasp/v4/dnsmasq-nanny, … (72 product lines)): Known Affected 231, Fixed 153. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5131/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-5131 medium priority: Ubuntu including 3 source packages (chromium-browser, libxml2, oxide-qt), 21 status rows across 7 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): released 15, ignored 4, DNE 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5131

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-5131

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
google chrome < 52.0.2743.82 cpe:2.3:a:google:chrome:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
xmlsoft libxml2 <= 2.9.4 cpe:2.3:a:xmlsoft:libxml2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple iphone_os < 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x < 10.12 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple tvos < 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:apple:tvos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple watchos < 3.0 cpe:2.3:o:apple:watchos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop: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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 42.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:42.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse opensuse 13.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:opensuse:13.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse opensuse 13.2 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:opensuse:13.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-5131

URL Tags
http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com/2016/07/stable-channel-update.html
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2016/Sep/msg00006.html
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2016/Sep/msg00008.html
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2016/Sep/msg00010.html
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2016/Sep/msg00011.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00020.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00021.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00022.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00028.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1485.html
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3637
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/92053
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036428
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1038623
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3041-1
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1358641
https://codereview.chromium.org/2127493002
https://crbug.com/623378
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201610-09
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-37
https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2017-05-01
https://support.apple.com/HT207141
https://support.apple.com/HT207142
https://support.apple.com/HT207143
https://support.apple.com/HT207170
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