Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2016-2194
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 ressol function in Botan before 1.10.11 and 1.11.x before 1.11.27 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via unspecified input to the OS2ECP function, related to a composite modulus.
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 confidenceThe ressol function in Botan cryptographic library versions before 1.10.11 and 1.11.x before 1.11.27 contains a denial of service vulnerability. When processing certain input through the OS2ECP function with a composite modulus, the function can enter an infinite loop, 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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0<= 1.10.10= 1.11.0= 1.11.1= 1.11.2= 1.11.3= 1.11.4= 1.11.5= 1.11.6= 1.11.7= 1.11.8= 1.11.9= 1.11.10CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/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.
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Identify Botan library installationSearch for Botan library files on the system. Common locations include /usr/lib/, /usr/local/lib/, or within application bund directories. Look for files named libbotan.* or botan.*Affected if Botan library files are present on the system
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Determine installed Botan versionRun 'botan --version' or check the library file metadata. For packaged systems, use package manager queries: dpkg -l | grep botan (Debian) or rpm -qa | grep botan (RPM-based)Affected if The installed version is 1.10.10 or earlier, or 1.11.0 through 1.11.26 (any 1.11.x version before 1.11.27)
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Identify applications using BotanReview application dependencies and code that links against the Botan library. Check for dynamic linking with libbotan using ldd on executables, or search codebase for '#include <botan/...>' headersAffected if Applications or services are linked against a vulnerable Botan version
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Check for OS2ECP function usageSearch application source code for calls to OS2ECP or ressol functions, or review documentation for elliptic curve or modular arithmetic operations that may use composite moduliAffected if Code explicitly uses OS2ECP or ressol functions with composite modulus parameters
You are affected if a vulnerable Botan version (1.10.10 or earlier, or 1.11.0-1.11.26) is installed AND your application uses the OS2ECP or ressol function with composite modulus inputs.
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 dataUpgrade to Botan version 1.10.11 or 1.11.27 or later to resolve this vulnerability.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $2,144.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2194 — 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-2016-2194 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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