Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2016-9597
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 · uneditedIt was found that Red Hat JBoss Core Services erratum RHSA-2016:2957 for CVE-2016-3705 did not actually include the fix for the issue found in libxml2, making it vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack due to a Stack Overflow. This is a regression CVE for the same issue as CVE-2016-3705.
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 confidenceThis is a regression of CVE-2016-3705 where the original fix for a stack overflow vulnerability in libxml2 was not included in Red Hat JBoss Core Services erratum RHSA-2016:2957. The missing fix allows attackers to trigger a stack overflow in libxml2, causing a Denial of Service condition.
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= 15.10= 16.04
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0= 2.9.3= 3.0= 3.0= 42.1CVSS 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
- 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 libxml2 installation and versionRun 'xml2-config --version' or 'dpkg -l | grep libxml2' on Debian/Ubuntu, 'rpm -qa | grep libxml2' on RHEL-based systems, or check the shared library with 'ldd' on the binary using xml2 functionsAffected if libxml2 version equals exactly 2.9.3
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Confirm JBoss Core Services contextCheck if JBoss Core Services is installed by running 'rpm -qa | grep jboss' or looking for /opt/jboss/ or /opt/rh/ directory structures associated with JBossAffected if JBoss Core Services is installed and the erratum RHSA-2016:2957 was the applied update
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Verify affected distribution versionRun 'lsb_release -a' on Ubuntu, 'cat /etc/debian_version' on Debian, or 'cat /etc/os-release' on openSUSE to identify the OS versionAffected if Running Ubuntu 12.04, 14.04, 15.10, or 16.04, Debian 8.0, or openSUSE Leap 42.1 with libxml2 2.9.3
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Check for CVE-2016-3705 fix presenceReview patch history or changelog for libxml2 package: 'rpm -q --changelog libxml2 | head -50' or 'dpkg -l libxml2' and verify if the stack overflow fix from the original CVE-2016-3705 is includedAffected if The fix for CVE-2016-3705 is missing from the installed libxml2 package
You are affected if libxml2 version 2.9.3 is installed in a JBoss Core Services environment or on an affected Ubuntu, Debian, or openSUSE distribution, and the CVE-2016-3705 stack overflow fix is not present.
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 corrected erratum or update libxml2 to the version that includes the CVE-2016-3705 fix, ensuring the stack overflow vulnerability is actually patched in the JBoss Core Services environment.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-9597 — 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-2016-9597 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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