CVE-2019-16139
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in the compact_arena crate before 0.4.0 for Rust. Generativity is mishandled, leading to an out-of-bounds write or read.
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 confidenceThe compact_arena Rust crate before version 0.4.0 has a memory safety vulnerability where generativity (a pattern for preventing misuse of references across scopes) is incorrectly implemented, allowing out-of-bounds memory reads or writes. This can lead to memory corruption and potential code execution.
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< 0.4.0CVSS 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:3.1/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate compact_arena in project dependenciesSearch your project's Cargo.toml file for 'compact_arena' under the [dependencies] sectionAffected if The crate is listed as a direct dependency
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Identify the declared versionRead the version number specified next to compact_arena in Cargo.toml (e.g., "0.1.0", "0.3.0", etc.)Affected if The version is less than 0.4.0 (such as 0.1.x, 0.2.x, or 0.3.x)
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Verify the resolved version in Cargo.lockOpen Cargo.lock and locate the [[package]] entry for name="compact_arena" to see the actual resolved versionAffected if The version field shows a number below 0.4.0
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Confirm usage of generativity patternsSearch your codebase for usages of compact_arena API, particularly any code creating arena instances or storing references across scopesAffected if Your code uses compact_arena to store and retrieve references, which triggers the vulnerable generativity implementation
You are affected if your project depends on compact_arena with a version below 0.4.0 and actively uses the crate to store references in arena structures.
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.
dbcve · scoped0.4.0
Upgrade the compact_arena crate to version 0.4.0 or later. Review all code paths using the crate to ensure no assumptions about memory safety were made that could now behave differently.
compact_arena version 0.4.0 or later
- Locate the Cargo.toml file in your project that depends on the compact_arena crate
- Update the compact_arena dependency version constraint to specify version 0.4.0 or later (e.g., compact_arena = "0.4.0" or compact_arena = ">=0.4.0")
- Run `cargo update compact_arena` to fetch the fixed version
- Run `cargo build` or `cargo check` to verify the upgrade compiles successfully
- Review your code for any compilation errors or API changes that may require updates
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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 $2,464.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-16139 — 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-2019-16139 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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