CVE-2016-5180

Heap-based buffer overflow in the ares_create_query function in c-ares 1.x before 1.12.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds write) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a hostname with an escaped trailing dot.

Published: 2016-10-03 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-5180 is rated High Risk (70.3/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 18.09%, 95th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. 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-2016-5180

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 2026-05-28 20.32% 18.09% -2.23%
2 2026-05-13 18.16% 20.32% +2.15%
3 2026-03-08 — 18.16% —

Full EPSS history (32 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-5180

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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: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: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.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/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:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
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.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-5180

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-5180

vendor priority summary link
debian medium CVE-2016-5180 medium priority: Debian including 1 source packages (c-ares), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-5180
gentoo normal CVE-2016-5180: 1 GLSA(s) (201701-28), 1 atom(s) (net-dns/c-ares); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-5180
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5180
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5180/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-5180 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (c-ares), 6 status rows across 6 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): released 4, not-affected 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5180

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-5180

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
c-ares c-ares 1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.2.1 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.5.3 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.7.1 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.7.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.7.2 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.7.3 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.7.4 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.7.5 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.7.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.9.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.9.1 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.9.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares c-ares 1.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares:c-ares:1.10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
c-ares_project c-ares 1.11.0 cpe:2.3:a:c-ares_project:c-ares:1.11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 0.10.0, < 0.10.48 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 0.12.0, < 0.12.17 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 4.0.0, < 4.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 12.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-5180

cvelogic Threat Intelligence