CVE-2016-5384

fontconfig before 2.12.1 does not validate offsets, which allows local users to trigger arbitrary free calls and consequently conduct double free attacks and execute arbitrary code via a crafted cache file.

Published: 2016-08-13 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-5384 is rated Moderate Risk (42.6/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.41%). 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-2016-5384

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 0.26% 0.41% +0.14%
2 2026-05-13 0.19% 0.26% +0.07%
3 2025-12-28 — 0.19% —

Full EPSS history (15 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-5384

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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: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.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
4.6 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
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.
 3.9 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-5384

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-5384

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-5384 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (fontconfig), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-5384
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5384
suse low CVE-2016-5384 severity low: SUSE including 16 source package names (fontconfig, fontconfig-2.10.95-10.el7, …), 76 product×package rows across 39 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE Liberty Linux 7, … (39 product lines)): Fixed 43, Known Not Affected 33. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5384/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-5384 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (fontconfig), 6 status rows across 6 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): released 6. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5384

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-5384

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
fedoraproject fedora 23 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:23:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 24 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:24:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fontconfig_project fontconfig < 2.12.1 cpe:2.3:a:fontconfig_project:fontconfig:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-5384

cvelogic Threat Intelligence