CVE-2016-5237

Exp

Valve Steam 3.42.16.13 uses weak permissions for the files in the Steam program directory, which allows local users to modify the files and possibly gain privileges as demonstrated by a Trojan horse Steam.exe file.

Published: 2017-01-23 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-5237 is rated Exploit Available (52.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.78%). 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2016-5237

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
39888 exploit_db edb 2016-06-06 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-5237

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 0.14% 0.78% +0.64%
2 2025-11-18 0.16% 0.14% -0.02%
3 2025-05-18 — 0.16% —

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-5237

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.8 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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: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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.3 3.4 [email protected]
1.9 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 3.4 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-5237

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-5237

vendor priority summary link
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-5237 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (steam), 5 status rows across 5 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety): DNE 2, not-affected 2, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5237

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-5237

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
valvesoftware steamos <= 3.42.16.13 cpe:2.3:o:valvesoftware:steamos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-5237

cvelogic Threat Intelligence