Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2016-1688
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe regexp (aka regular expression) implementation in Google V8 before 5.0.71.40, as used in Google Chrome before 51.0.2704.63, mishandles external string sizes, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) via crafted JavaScript code.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceA vulnerability exists in the V8 JavaScript engine's regular expression implementation where external string sizes are mishandled, leading to an out-of-bounds read. This can be triggered remotely via specially crafted JavaScript code, causing a denial of service condition.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 14.04= 15.10= 16.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
= 6.0
ChromeWeb browser
<= 50.0.2661.102= 42.1= 13.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Google Chrome versionNavigate to chrome://settings/help or run 'google-chrome --version' in terminalAffected if Version is 50.0.2661.102 or earlier (any version <= 50.0.2661.102)
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Check Chromium versionRun 'chromium --version' or 'chromium-browser --version' in terminalAffected if Version is 50.0.2661.102 or earlier
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Check standalone V8 engine versionRun 'v8 --version' or check the V8 library file version if installed as a shared libraryAffected if V8 version is 5.0.71.39 or earlier (any version before 5.0.71.40)
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Identify applications embedding V8Search for applications that bundle the V8 engine: check /usr/lib/chromium-browser/resources/ or application-specific directories for libv8.so or similar V8 library filesAffected if Any embedded V8 library version is 5.0.71.39 or earlier
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Verify if JavaScript/RegExp is usedReview application logs or configuration to confirm JavaScript execution is enabled and external strings can be processed by RegExpAffected if JavaScript execution is enabled and the application processes external strings through regular expressions
You are affected if Google Chrome or any Chromium-based browser is version 50.0.2661.102 or earlier, or if any standalone V8 engine version is 5.0.71.39 or earlier is installed and JavaScript/RegExp functionality is in use.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate Google Chrome to version 51.0.2704.63 or later (which includes V8 5.0.71.40). Applications embedding the V8 engine should update their V8 dependency to version 5.0.71.40 or later.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-1688 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-1688 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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