CVE-2016-5716
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 console in Puppet Enterprise 2015.x and 2016.x prior to 2016.4.0 includes unsafe string reads that potentially allows for remote code execution on the console node.
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 confidencePuppet Enterprise versions 2015.x and 2016.x prior to 2016.4.0 contain unsafe string reads in the console component that can be exploited to achieve remote code execution on the console node.
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= 2015.2.0= 2015.2.1= 2015.2.2= 2015.2.3= 2015.3.0= 2015.3.1= 2015.3.2= 2015.3.3= 2016.1.1= 2016.1.2= 2016.2.0= 2016.2.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 Puppet Enterprise is installedCheck for the presence of Puppet Enterprise by looking for the directory /opt/puppetlabs/puppet-enterprise or by running `facter is_pe` which returns 'true' for Puppet Enterprise installationsAffected if facter returns 'true' or the /opt/puppetlabs/puppet-enterprise directory exists indicates Puppet Enterprise is in use
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Determine the installed Puppet Enterprise versionRead the version file at /opt/puppetlabs/puppet-enterprise/VERSION or run `facter pe_version` to obtain the exact Puppet Enterprise version numberAffected if The version matches any of these: 2015.2.0, 2015.2.1, 2015.2.2, 2015.2.3, 2015.3.0, 2015.3.1, 2015.3.2, 2015.3.3, 2016.1.1, 2016.1.2, 2016.2.0, or 2016.2.1
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Confirm the console component is presentVerify the Puppet Enterprise console (formerly known as the dashboard) is installed by checking for the console services via `pxp-agent --version` or by checking for the console web application at /var/opt/puppetlabs/puppet-console-services or similar console-related directories under /opt/puppetlabsAffected if The console component directory exists and the service is configured, meaning the vulnerable console component is exposed
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Identify if the console is network-accessibleCheck the console configuration file at /etc/puppetlabs/puppet-console-services/conf.d/console-services.conf or review firewall rules and network bindings to determine if the console service listens on an external or accessible network interfaceAffected if The console service is bound to a reachable network address and is accessible from network segments outside the localhost, making remote exploitation possible
You are affected if Puppet Enterprise is installed with a version matching 2015.2.0 through 2016.2.1 and the console component is present and network-accessible.
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 Puppet Enterprise to version 2016.4.0 or later to address the unsafe string reading vulnerability.
- 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-2016-5716 — 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-2016-5716 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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