CVE-2016-9436

parsetagx.c in w3m before 0.5.3+git20161009 does not properly initialize values, which allows remote attackers to crash the application via a crafted html file, related to a <i> tag.

Published: 2017-01-20 Last update: 2026-05-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-9436 is rated Moderate Risk (54.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.35%). 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-2016-9436

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 2025-06-19 0.46% 1.35% +0.90%
2 2025-03-30 1.57% 0.46% -1.11%
3 2025-03-29 — 1.57% —

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-9436

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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.
 2.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/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:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
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.
 8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-9436

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-9436

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-9436 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (w3m), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-9436
gentoo normal CVE-2016-9436: 1 GLSA(s) (201701-08), 1 atom(s) (www-client/w3m); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-9436
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-9436
suse medium CVE-2016-9436 severity moderate: SUSE including 12 source package names (w3m-0.5.3+git20180125-1.17, w3m-0.5.3+git20180125-150000.3.3.1, …), 43 product×package rows across 41 product lines (Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-SAP-BYOS, Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-SAP-On-Demand, … (41 product lines)): Fixed 43. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-9436/
ubuntu low CVE-2016-9436 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (w3m), 6 status rows across 6 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): released 4, ignored 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-9436

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-9436

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensuse leap 42.2 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:42.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse_project leap 42.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse_project:leap:42.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
tats w3m <= 0.5.3\+git20160718 cpe:2.3:a:tats:w3m:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-9436

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-12/msg00084.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/11/18/3 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94407 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://github.com/tats/w3m/commit/33509cc81ec5f2ba44eb6fd98bd5c1b5873e46bd Issue Tracking Patch Technical Description
https://github.com/tats/w3m/issues/16 Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-08 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
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