CVE-2016-5714

Puppet Enterprise 2015.3.3 and 2016.x before 2016.4.0, and Puppet Agent 1.3.6 through 1.7.0 allow remote attackers to bypass a host whitelist protection mechanism and execute arbitrary code on Puppet nodes via vectors related to command validation, aka "Puppet Execution Protocol (PXP) Command Whitelist Validation Vulnerability."

Published: 2017-10-18 Last update: 2026-05-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-5714 is rated Moderate Risk (55.3/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.01%). 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-2016-5714

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 2025-05-04 1.06% 1.01% -0.05%
2 2025-03-30 3.62% 1.06% -2.56%
3 2025-03-29 — 3.62% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-5714

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.2 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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.
 1.2 5.9 [email protected]
6.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-5714

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-5714

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-5714 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (puppet), 1 status rows across 1 suites (bullseye): resolved 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-5714
gentoo normal CVE-2016-5714: 1 GLSA(s) (201710-12), 1 atom(s) (app-admin/puppet-agent); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-5714
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-5714 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (puppet), 5 status rows across 5 suites (artful, trusty, upstream, xenial, zesty): not-affected 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5714

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-5714

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
puppet puppet_enterprise 2015.3.3 cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_enterprise:2015.3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
puppet puppet_enterprise 2016.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_enterprise:2016.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
puppet puppet_enterprise 2016.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_enterprise:2016.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
puppet puppet_enterprise 2016.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_enterprise:2016.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
puppet puppet_enterprise 2016.2.1 cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_enterprise:2016.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
puppet puppet_agent >= 1.3.6, <= 1.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_agent:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-5714

URL Tags
https://bugs.gentoo.org/597684 Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://puppet.com/security/cve/cve-2016-5714 Vendor Advisory
https://puppet.com/security/cve/pxp-agent-oct-2016 Issue Tracking Vendor Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201710-12 Third Party Advisory
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