CVE-2016-7053 | CMS Null dereference

In OpenSSL 1.1.0 before 1.1.0c, applications parsing invalid CMS structures can crash with a NULL pointer dereference. This is caused by a bug in the handling of the ASN.1 CHOICE type in OpenSSL 1.1.0 which can result in a NULL value being passed to the structure callback if an attempt is made to free certain invalid encodings. Only CHOICE structures using a callback which do not handle NULL value are affected.

Published: 2017-05-04 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-7053 is rated Moderate Risk (64.4/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 21.68%, 97th 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-2016-7053

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 2026-06-25 21.30% 21.68% +0.38%
2 2026-06-15 1.06% 21.30% +20.24%
3 2026-03-22 — 1.06% —

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-7053

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-7053

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-7053

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-7053 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (openssl), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-7053
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-7053
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-7053 medium priority: Ubuntu including 3 source packages (openssl, openssl098, openssl1.0), 15 status rows across 5 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety): DNE 7, not-affected 5, needs-triage 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-7053

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-7053

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openssl openssl 1.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:1.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl 1.1.0a cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:1.1.0a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl 1.1.0b cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:1.1.0b:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-7053

cvelogic Threat Intelligence