CVE-2016-4489
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 · uneditedInteger overflow in the gnu_special function in libiberty allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation fault and crash) via a crafted binary, related to the "demangling of virtual tables."
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 confidenceInteger overflow vulnerability in the gnu_special function within libiberty allows specially crafted binaries to trigger a segmentation fault during symbol demangling. The overflow occurs when processing virtual table symbols, causing the demangler to read/write beyond allocated buffer boundaries.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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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Identify if libiberty is installedSearch for libiberty shared libraries on the system using 'find /usr -name "*libiberty*" 2>/dev/null' or check package manager listings for libiberty packagesAffected if libiberty libraries are present on the system and used for symbol demangling
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Locate the libiberty version in useCheck the version of libiberty libraries or binaries found on the system through package metadata, file version information, or by examining the library itselfAffected if The installed version is any release of libiberty prior to the integer overflow fix in gnu_special
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Identify processes or tools using symbol demanglingReview which applications on the system use libiberty for C++ symbol demangling, such as debuggers, symbol lookup tools, or binary analysis utilitiesAffected if Any tool using libiberty's demangling functions processes symbols from untrusted or specially crafted binaries
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Verify if virtual table symbols are being processedMonitor or audit operations where C++ virtual table (vtable) symbols from binaries are being demangled, as this is the specific trigger for the overflow in gnu_specialAffected if The system demangles virtual table symbols from binaries without verified provenance
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Check for crash logs or segmentation faultsReview system logs, application crash logs, and core dumps for segmentation faults occurring during symbol demangling operationsAffected if Crashes are observed during symbol demangling of C++ binaries, particularly involving virtual table symbols
The system is affected if it runs any version of libiberty that performs symbol demangling on untrusted C++ binaries containing virtual table symbols, as the integer overflow in gnu_special triggers buffer boundary violations during processing.
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 libiberty to a patched version that addresses the integer overflow in gnu_special, or implement bounds checking before demangling operations when processing untrusted binaries.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4489 — 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-2016-4489 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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