# CVE-2016-1461: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Remote attackers can bypass malware detection on Cisco Email Security Appliances by sending crafted email attachments, allowing malicious content to reach recipients.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Aug 2016
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6cxc-3h4m-cqfx

## What is CVE-2016-1461?

CVE-2016-1461 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Asyncos, published on 1 Aug 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Cisco AsyncOS on Email Security Appliance (ESA) devices through 9.7.0-125 allows remote attackers to bypass malware detection via a crafted attachment in an e-mail message, aka Bug ID CSCuz14932.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-1461?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Asyncos.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-1461?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-1461 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-1461 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-1461 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Asyncos

- [CVE-2025-20393](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20393/): Cisco Multiple Products Improper Input Validation (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76519](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76519/): Cisco Secure Email Gateway Relative Path Traversal (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76461](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76461/): Cisco Secure Email Gateway SQL Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-20435](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20435/): Command injection in Cisco Secure Web Appliance (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-15956](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15956/): Cisco Web Security Appliance Unauthorized Device Reset Vulnerability (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-1461 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-1461 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Asyncos, published on 1 Aug 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-1461 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Asyncos. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-1461/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-1461/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-1461
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-1461
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-1461

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-1461/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.