CVE-2016-7458

VMware vSphere Client 5.5 before U3e and 6.0 before U2a allows remote vCenter Server and ESXi instances to read arbitrary files via an XML document containing an external entity declaration in conjunction with an entity reference, related to an XML External Entity (XXE) issue.

Published: 2016-12-29 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-7458 is rated Moderate Risk (46.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.23%). 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-2016-7458

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% 1.23% +0.78%
2 2025-03-30 0.66% 0.45% -0.21%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.66% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-7458

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.8 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/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: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:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/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:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
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.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-7458

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-7458

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware vsphere_client 5.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 5.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:5.5:u1:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 5.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:5.5:u2:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 5.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:5.5:u3a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 5.5 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:5.5:u3b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:6.0:2:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:6.0:2m:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:6.0:a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:6.0:b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:6.0:u1:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware vsphere_client 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vsphere_client:6.0:u1b:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-7458

cvelogic Threat Intelligence