CVE-2016-6225

xbcrypt in Percona XtraBackup before 2.3.6 and 2.4.x before 2.4.5 does not properly set the initialization vector (IV) for encryption, which makes it easier for context-dependent attackers to obtain sensitive information from encrypted backup files via a Chosen-Plaintext attack. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2013-6394.

Published: 2017-03-23 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-6225 is rated Moderate Risk (45.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.12%). 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-2016-6225

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 0.45% 1.12% +0.68%
2 2026-05-31 0.33% 0.45% +0.12%
3 2026-03-22 — 0.33% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-6225

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.9 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.2 3.6 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N 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:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-6225

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-6225

vendor priority summary link
suse low — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-6225/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-6225 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (percona-xtrabackup), 15 status rows across 15 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 6, ignored 6, released 2, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-6225

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-6225

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
percona xtrabackup <= 2.3.5 cpe:2.3:a:percona:xtrabackup:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona xtrabackup 2.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:percona:xtrabackup:2.4.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona xtrabackup 2.4.1 cpe:2.3:a:percona:xtrabackup:2.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona xtrabackup 2.4.2 cpe:2.3:a:percona:xtrabackup:2.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona xtrabackup 2.4.3 cpe:2.3:a:percona:xtrabackup:2.4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona xtrabackup 2.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:percona:xtrabackup:2.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 42.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:42.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 42.2 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:42.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 24 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:24:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 25 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:25:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-6225

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2017-01/msg00125.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2017-01/msg00126.html Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.launchpad.net/percona-xtrabackup/+bug/1643949 Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/percona/percona-xtrabackup/pull/266 Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/percona/percona-xtrabackup/pull/267 Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/BAHI6ETS22FJCMLW7A6SICFKQXF5G2VI/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ZBVCP6KLFVGG6HSGLHLTMZRD6C4IJSZP/
https://www.percona.com/blog/2017/01/12/cve-2016-6225-percona-xtrabackup-encryption-iv-not-set-properly/ Vendor Advisory
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