dbcve.org
Provisioning ServicesApplication · Citrix

CVE-2016-9678

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-01-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Use-after-free vulnerability in Citrix Provisioning Services before 7.12 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors.

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 confidence

Use-after-free vulnerability in Citrix Provisioning Services allows attackers to execute arbitrary code. A use-after-free occurs when memory is accessed after it has been freed, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate memory and execute arbitrary code.

MitigationUpgrade Citrix Provisioning Services to version 7.12 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

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
Provisioning ServicesApplication
Affected:= 7.0= 7.1= 7.6= 7.7= 7.8= 7.9= 7.11

CVSS 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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Citrix Provisioning Services is installed
    Check for the presence of Citrix Provisioning Services components on the system, typically found in C:\Program Files\Citrix\Provisioning Services or C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Provisioning Services
    Affected if The software is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed version
    Open the Citrix Provisioning Services console, check the About dialog, or inspect the version information in the installer executable or registry keys under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\ProvisioningServices
    Affected if The installed version matches 7.0, 7.1, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, or 7.11
  3. Confirm the PVS service is running
    Check if the Citrix Provisioning Services Stream Service or PVS Service is running via Services.msc or command line using 'sc query PVS' or 'Get-Service PVS*'
    Affected if The service is running and the version is in the affected list
  4. Review event logs for crash indicators
    Examine Windows Application and System event logs for Event ID 1000 (Application Error) or service crash entries related to PVS components
    Affected if Frequent crashes occur and the version is affected

A system is affected if Citrix Provisioning Services version 7.0, 7.1, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, or 7.11 is installed and the PVS service is running.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Citrix Provisioning Services to version 7.12 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Citrix Provisioning Services 7.12 or later

  1. 1. Back up the current Citrix Provisioning Services configuration, database, and any custom settings
  2. 2. Review the official Citrix Provisioning Services upgrade documentation for version 7.12
  3. 3. Verify that your target environment (OS, dependencies) meets the prerequisites for version 7.12
  4. 4. Download the Citrix Provisioning Services 7.12 installer from the official Citrix download portal (support.citrix.com)
  5. 5. Stop all Provisioning Services services and ensure no active streaming sessions are running
  6. 6. Run the upgrade installer on the Provisioning Services server(s) following the on-screen prompts
  7. 7. After upgrade completes, verify the version number matches 7.12 or later in the console
  8. 8. Start Provisioning Services services and test critical provisioning functions to confirm normal operation
Caveat Review Citrix upgrade documentation for potential compatibility issues with existing targets and prior software versions before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Provisioning Services Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-9678 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-9678 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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