CVE-2016-4036
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 quagga package before 0.99.23-2.6.1 in openSUSE and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP 1 uses weak permissions for /etc/quagga, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information by reading files in the directory.
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 quagga routing daemon package before version 0.99.23-2.6.1 stores configuration files in /etc/quagga with weak permissions that allow any local user to read sensitive files in the directory. This could expose routing credentials, BGP neighbor configurations, and network topology information.
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= 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 if Quagga package is installedRun 'rpm -qa | grep quagga' on openSUSE or check package manager for quagga installationAffected if Package is installed and version is before 0.99.23-2.6.1 on openSUSE 42.1 or 13.2
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Verify /etc/quagga directory permissionsRun 'ls -ld /etc/quagga' to check directory permissionsAffected if Directory permissions allow read access for others (e.g., mode 755, 775, or anything with 'r' for 'other')
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Check permissions on Quagga configuration filesRun 'ls -l /etc/quagga/*' to list file permissionsAffected if Files have permissions allowing read access for others (e.g., mode 644, 664, or anything with 'r' for 'other')
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Test unauthorized read access as non-root userAs a non-privileged user, run 'cat /etc/quagga/*' or 'ls /etc/quagga/' to verify accessAffected if Non-root user can read or list contents of /etc/quagga directory or its files
User is affected if Quagga is installed on openSUSE 42.1 or 13.2 with version before 0.99.23-2.6.1 and /etc/quagga directory or its files are readable by any local user (permissions include 'r' for 'other' or 'others').
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 dataRestrict read access to the /etc/quagga directory and its contents to only the quagga user and root, using appropriate file permissions (e.g., chmod 750 for directories, chmod 640 for files) and verify the routing daemon continues to function properly after the permission changes.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4036 — 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-2016-4036 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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- 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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