CVE-2016-1521 Memory corruption in n/a

What is CVE-2016-1521?

CVE-2016-1521 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 13 Feb 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

The directrun function in directmachine.cpp in Libgraphite in Graphite 2 1.2.4, as used in Mozilla Firefox before 43.0 and Firefox ESR 38.x before 38.6.1, does not validate a certain skip operation, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code, obtain sensitive information, or cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read and application crash) via a crafted Graphite smart font.

Weakness: CWE-119

Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-1521?

It affects 5 products.

Products include Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Sil Graphite2.

How do I fix CVE-2016-1521?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2016-1521 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-1521 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

• CVE-2015-3306 ProFTPD Improper Access Control Exploited Critical 10.0
• CVE-2025-49113 RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data Exploited Critical 9.9
• CVE-2026-24061 GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2025-39682 Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2024-9680 Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free Exploited Critical 9.8

All Debian Debian Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2016-1521, GHSA-765v-rgjj-3mrx, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-1521, openSUSE-SU-2024:10242-1.