CVE-2016-1987
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 · uneditedHPE IPFilter A.11.31.18.21 on HP-UX, when a certain keep-state configuration is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via unspecified UDP packets.
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 · moderate confidenceHPE IPFilter A.11.31.18.21 on HP-UX contains a denial of service vulnerability when a specific keep-state (stateful inspection) configuration is enabled. Remote attackers can send crafted UDP packets that cause the IPFilter service to crash or become unresponsive.
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= a.11.31.18.21CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/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.
-
Verify IPFilter versionRun '/usr/sbin/ipf -V' or check the package version using 'swlist -l product | grep -i ipfilter' to confirm the installed version is A.11.31.18.21Affected if Installed version equals A.11.31.18.21 exactly
-
Confirm IPFilter is activeRun '/usr/sbin/ipf -s' or check if the ipf daemon is running using 'ps -ef | grep ipf'Affected if IPFilter service is running on the system
-
Check for keep-state rulesReview IPFilter configuration files in /etc/ipf/ and look for 'keep-state' or 'keep state' directives in any active rule sets. Use '/usr/sbin/ipfstat -io' to display active input/output rules.Affected if Any 'keep-state' rule is present and active in the IPFilter configuration
-
Verify UDP handling is configuredCheck if UDP traffic is permitted and being processed by stateful inspection rules. Review the active rule set for any 'proto udp' rules with keep-state enabled.Affected if UDP packets are being processed by keep-state rules (proto udp with keep-state)
You are affected if IPFilter version A.11.31.18.21 is installed AND keep-state rules handling UDP traffic are active, allowing crafted UDP packets to crash the service.
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 dataDisable or modify the vulnerable keep-state configuration in IPFilter, or apply the HPE patch if available. Consider filtering or rate-limiting unnecessary UDP traffic as a temporary workaround.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-1987 — 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-2016-1987 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data