# CVE-2016-2381: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Attackers can bypass Perl's taint protection mechanism in child processes by using duplicate environment variables, potentially leading to unsafe operations.

- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 8 Apr 2016
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-2381, DSA-3501-1, GHSA-mmf9-wh8f-2qv3, MGASA-2016-0099, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-2381

## What is CVE-2016-2381?

CVE-2016-2381 is a high-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 8 Apr 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Perl might allow context-dependent attackers to bypass the taint protection mechanism in a child process via duplicate environment variables in envp.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-2381?

It affects 10 products.


Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Opensuse Opensuse, Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management, Oracle Configuration Manager, Oracle Database Server, Oracle Enterprise Manager Base Platform, Oracle Solaris, Oracle Timesten In-Memory Database, Perl Perl.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-2381?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2016-2381 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-2381 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-2381 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-2381 is a high-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 8 Apr 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-2016-2381 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-2016-2381/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2381/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-2381
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-2381
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-2381

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2381/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.