CVE-2016-8217

EMC RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2 has a PKCS#12 Timing Attack Vulnerability. A possible timing attack could be carried out by modifying a PKCS#12 file that has an integrity MAC for which the password is not known. An attacker could then feed the modified PKCS#12 file to the toolkit and guess the current MAC one byte at a time. This is possible because Crypto-J uses a non-constant-time method to compare the stored MAC with the calculated MAC. This vulnerability is similar to the issue described in CVE-2015-2601.

Published: 2017-02-03 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2016-8217 is rated Moderate Risk (40.8/100): CVSS Low severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.49%). Core evidence: EPSS rose +1.22% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: 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-2016-8217

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 0.28% 1.49% +1.22%
2 2025-03-17 0.16% 0.28% +0.11%
3 2023-03-07 0.16%

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-8217

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.7 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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: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: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.
2.2 1.4 [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-2016-8217

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-8217

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
dell bsafe_crypto-j < 6.2.2 cpe:2.3:a:dell:bsafe_crypto-j:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-8217

URL Tags
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/540066/30/0/threaded Mailing List Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95831 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037732 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
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