CVE-2016-9575
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 · uneditedIpa versions 4.2.x, 4.3.x before 4.3.3 and 4.4.x before 4.4.3 did not properly check the user's permissions while modifying certificate profiles in IdM's certprofile-mod command. An authenticated, unprivileged attacker could use this flaw to modify profiles to issue certificates with arbitrary naming or key usage information and subsequently use such certificates for other attacks.
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 confidenceFreeIPA versions 4.2.x, 4.3.x before 4.3.3, and 4.4.x before 4.4.3 contain an authorization bypass in the certprofile-mod command where proper permission checks were not enforced. An authenticated, unprivileged attacker could modify certificate profiles to issue certificates with arbitrary subject naming or key usage extensions, potentially enabling further attacks such as impersonation or certificate-based pivoting.
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= 4.2.0= 4.2.1= 4.2.2= 4.2.3= 4.2.4= 4.3.0= 4.3.1= 4.3.2= 4.4.0= 4.4.1= 4.4.2CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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 FreeIPA versionRun 'ipa --version' or check the package version using your system's package manager (e.g., 'rpm -q freeipa-server' or 'dpkg -l freeipa-server')Affected if The version falls within 4.2.0-4.2.4, 4.3.0-4.3.2, or 4.4.0-4.4.2 (vulnerable range)
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Verify if certprofile-mod is available to unprivileged usersAttempt to run 'ipa certprofile-mod' as a non-admin user or check the UI/API permissions for the certprofile-mod privilegeAffected if Unprivileged users can execute certprofile-mod without proper authorization checks
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Review certificate profile configurationsList all certificate profiles using 'ipa certprofile-find' and inspect each profile's settings for unauthorized changes to subject naming or key usage extensionsAffected if Any profile shows modifications to subject base, subject alternative names, or key usage that were not authorized by an administrator
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Audit certificate issuance logsExamine IPA certificate issuance logs (typically in /var/log/ipa/ or via 'ipa cert-find') for certificates issued using modified profiles, especially those with unusual subject names or extended key usagesAffected if Certificates were issued with subject names or key usages that do not match the organization's standard profile settings
You are affected if your FreeIPA version is 4.2.0 through 4.4.2 and unprivileged users can modify certificate profiles or if certificates were issued with unauthorized subject or key usage settings.
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 IPA version 4.3.3, 4.4.3, or later. Additionally, audit existing certificate profiles for unauthorized modifications and review certificate issuance logs for signs of exploitation.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-9575 — 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-2016-9575 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
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