CVE-2016-5754
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 · uneditedPresence of a .htaccess file could leak information in NetIQ Access Manager 4.1 before 4.1.2 Hot Fix 1 and 4.2 before SP2.
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 confidenceIn NetIQ Access Manager 4.1 before 4.1.2 Hot Fix 1 and 4.2 before SP2, the presence of a misconfigured .htaccess file in a web-accessible directory allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information about server configuration, authentication settings, and access control rules that should be protected.
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= 4.1= 4.2CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Identify NetIQ Access Manager versionCheck the installed version of NetIQ Access Manager using the administration console or by inspecting the product installation directory for version metadata. Look for build numbers or version files in the NAM installation path.Affected if The version is 4.1 before 4.1.2 Hot Fix 1, or 4.2 before SP2.
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Locate .htaccess files in web directoriesSearch the NetIQ Access Manager document root and web-accessible directories for .htaccess files. Common locations include the htdocs, webdocs, or wwwroot directories under the NAM installation path.Affected if Any .htaccess files exist in web-accessible directories.
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Verify web accessibility of .htaccess filesAttempt to access the .htaccess files via HTTP/HTTPS from an external host. For example, try requesting http://[hostname]/.htaccess to determine if the file is being served to web clients.Affected if The .htaccess file is directly accessible via web request and returns file contents.
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Inspect .htaccess for sensitive configurationOpen and review the contents of any discovered .htaccess files. Look for authentication directives (AuthType, Require), authorization rules, rewrite rules, or other access control configurations that should not be publicly exposed.Affected if The .htaccess file contains authentication settings, access control rules, or server configuration directives that could reveal protected resource locations or access mechanisms.
You are affected if running a vulnerable NAM version (4.1 before 4.1.2 HF1 or 4.2 before SP2) AND .htaccess files with sensitive configuration are accessible via web requests in public directories.
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 dataApply the vendor-supplied hotfix (4.1.2 Hot Fix 1) or service pack (SP2) to address the .htaccess information disclosure. Additionally, audit the file system for any exposed .htaccess files in web-root directories and remove or properly secure them.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5754 — 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-2016-5754 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data