CVE-2019-16760 | Cargo prior to Rust 1.26.0 may download the wrong dependency

Exp

Cargo prior to Rust 1.26.0 may download the wrong dependency if your package.toml file uses the `package` configuration key. Usage of the `package` key to rename dependencies in `Cargo.toml` is ignored in Rust 1.25.0 and prior. When Rust 1.25.0 and prior is used Cargo may download the wrong dependency, which could be squatted on crates.io to be a malicious package. This not only affects manifests that you write locally yourself, but also manifests published to crates.io. Rust 1.0.0 through Rust 1.25.0 is affected by this advisory because Cargo will ignore the `package` key in manifests. Rust 1.26.0 through Rust 1.30.0 are not affected and typically will emit an error because the `package` key is unstable. Rust 1.31.0 and after are not affected because Cargo understands the `package` key. Users of the affected versions are strongly encouraged to update their compiler to the latest available one. Preventing this issue from happening requires updating your compiler to be either Rust 1.26.0 or newer. There will be no point release for Rust versions prior to 1.26.0. Users of Rust 1.19.0 to Rust 1.25.0 can instead apply linked patches to mitigate the issue.

Published: 2019-09-30 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2019-16760 is rated Exploit Available (50/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.18%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2019-16760

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-16760

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 2025-11-21 0.14% 0.18% +0.04%
2 2025-11-18 0.18% 0.14% -0.04%
3 2025-03-30 — 0.18% —

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-16760

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.6 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L 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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.2 3.4 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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: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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/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:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-16760

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2019-16760

GHSA-9f3p-wvj7-q82x · Severity: high · Ecosystem: rust — Cargo prior to Rust 1.26.0 may download the wrong dependency

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-16760

vendor priority summary link
alpine high CVE-2019-16760: 1 source package rows (rust); 8 state rows across 8 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-community, edge-main); fixed 8, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2019-16760
debian not yet assigned CVE-2019-16760 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (cargo), 2 status rows across 2 suites (bookworm, bullseye): resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-16760
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-16760
ubuntu medium CVE-2019-16760 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (cargo, rustc), 12 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, disco, eoan, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 9, needs-triage 2, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-16760

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-16760

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
rust-lang rust < 1.26.0 cpe:2.3:a:rust-lang:rust:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-16760

cvelogic Threat Intelligence