CVE-2016-6559

CRITICAL

BSD libc - Memory Corruption

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Description

Improper bounds checking of the obuf variable in the link_ntoa() function in linkaddr.c of the BSD libc library may allow an attacker to read or write from memory. The full impact and severity depends on the method of exploit and how the library is used by applications. According to analysis by FreeBSD developers, it is very unlikely that applications exist that utilize link_ntoa() in an exploitable manner, and the CERT/CC is not aware of any proof of concept. A blog post describes the functionality of link_ntoa() and points out that none of the base utilities use this function in an exploitable manner. For more information, please see FreeBSD Security Advisory SA-16:37.

References (4)

Core 4
Core References
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry x_refsource_sectrack
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037398
Vendor Advisory vendor-advisory x_refsource_freebsd
https://www.freebsd.org/security/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-16:37.libc.asc
Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource third-party-advisory x_refsource_cert-vn
https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/548487
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry x_refsource_bid
https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94694

Scores

CVSS v3 9.8
EPSS 0.0155
EPSS Percentile 81.5%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

CWE
CWE-119 CWE-120
Status published
Products (5)
freebsd/freebsd 9.3
freebsd/freebsd 10.1
freebsd/freebsd 10.2
freebsd/freebsd 10.3
freebsd/freebsd 11.0
Published Jul 13, 2018
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026