Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2016-4354
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 · uneditedber-decoder.c in Libksba before 1.3.3 uses an incorrect integer data type, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via crafted BER data, which leads to a buffer overflow.
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 ber-decoder.c file in Libksba versions prior to 1.3.3 contains a buffer overflow vulnerability caused by using an incorrect integer data type when parsing BER (Basic Encoding Rules) data. This integer type mismatch leads to improper buffer size calculation, allowing remote attackers to trigger a denial of service via crafted BER input.
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
= 12.04= 14.04<= 1.3.2CVSS 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
- 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 installed Libksba library versionRun 'dpkg -l libksba*' on Ubuntu, or check for the library file with 'ldconfig -p | grep ksba' and then query the library version using 'apt-cache policy libksba' or 'rpm -q libksba' depending on your distributionAffected if The installed version is lower than 1.3.3 (e.g., 1.3.2, 1.3.1, 1.3.0, or any version < 1.3.3)
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Confirm BER decoder component presenceLocate the ber-decoder.c or ber-decoder.o file in the system: 'find /usr -name 'ber-decoder*' 2>/dev/null' or check within the Libksba source if compiled locallyAffected if The ber-decoder component exists in the Libksba installation and the version is < 1.3.3
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Check applications using LibksbaIdentify programs that link against libksba: 'ldd $(which <application>) | grep ksba' or 'dpkg -S libksba.so*' to see which packages depend on itAffected if Any application using Libksba to process BER input is present and the library version is vulnerable (< 1.3.3)
You are affected if Libksba version 1.3.2 or earlier is installed and any application uses it to process BER data.
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 Libksba 1.3.3 or later, which contains the corrected integer data type. If upgrading is not feasible, patch ber-decoder.c to use the correct integer type (typically size_t or appropriate width types) for buffer size calculations in BER decoding routines.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4354 — 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-2016-4354 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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