# CVE-2016-2147: Integer overflow in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash the BusyBox DHCP client by sending a malformed domain name, causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Feb 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2016-2147, DEBIAN-CVE-2016-2147, GHSA-3wxp-8cgp-vmq4, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-2147

## What is CVE-2016-2147?

CVE-2016-2147 is a high-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 9 Feb 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Integer overflow in the DHCP client (udhcpc) in BusyBox before 1.25.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a malformed RFC1035-encoded domain name, which triggers an out-of-bounds heap write.

Weakness: CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-2147?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Busybox Busybox, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-2147?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-2147 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-2147 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2022-48174](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48174/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-42377](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42377/): Memory corruption in busybox (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-2148](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2148/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-28391](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28391/): Command injection in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-16544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-16544/): Code injection in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-2147 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-2147 is a high-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 9 Feb 2017. 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-2016-2147 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux. 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-2016-2147/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2147/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-2147
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-2147
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-2147

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2147/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.