CVE-2016-7972

The check_allocations function in libass/ass_shaper.c in libass before 0.13.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory allocation failure) via unspecified vectors.

Published: 2017-03-03 Last update: 2026-05-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-7972 is rated Moderate Risk (57.5/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.46%). 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-2016-7972

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 2026-06-12 2.45% 1.46% -0.99%
2 2026-05-27 3.15% 2.45% -0.70%
3 2026-02-04 — 3.15% —

Full EPSS history (21 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-7972

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-2016-7972

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-7972

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2016-7972: 1 source package rows (libass); 9 state rows across 9 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 9, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2016-7972
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-7972 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libass), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-7972
gentoo normal CVE-2016-7972: 1 GLSA(s) (201702-25), 1 atom(s) (media-libs/libass); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-7972
suse medium CVE-2016-7972 severity moderate: SUSE including 18 source package names (libass-devel-0.10.2-3.1, libass-devel-0.13.4-2.1, …), 43 product×package rows across 33 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2, … (33 product lines)): Fixed 43. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-7972/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-7972 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libass), 16 status rows across 16 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): not-affected 11, released 4, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-7972

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-7972

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensuse leap 42.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:42.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse opensuse 13.2 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:opensuse:13.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 23 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:23:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 24 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:24:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 25 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:25:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
libass_project libass <= 0.13.3 cpe:2.3:a:libass_project:libass:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-7972

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-12/msg00068.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/05/2 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93358 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1381960 Issue Tracking Patch
https://github.com/libass/libass/pull/240/commits/aa54e0b59200a994d50a346b5d7ac818ebcf2d4b Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/libass/libass/releases/tag/0.13.4 Patch Release Notes Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/KW6DNERYHPI5Y6SQYU3XKTVSCOWMIHUC/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/R7JJ2SGVOX6UQQIRMVC3QACJLKHE2PYN/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VUOUOK3VULMMZTNSCRFCNPDAPDWAVK7X/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201702-25 Patch Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
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