# CVE-2016-2842: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service via out-of-bounds write or memory consumption in OpenSSL's BIO printing function.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 3 Mar 2016
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-2842, GHSA-jj34-65xr-hwrp, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-2842

## What is CVE-2016-2842?

CVE-2016-2842 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Openssl Openssl, published on 3 Mar 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The doapr_outch function in crypto/bio/b_print.c in OpenSSL 1.0.1 before 1.0.1s and 1.0.2 before 1.0.2g does not verify that a certain memory allocation succeeds, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds write or memory consumption) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a long string, as demonstrated by a large amount of ASN.1 data, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-0799.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-2842?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Openssl Openssl.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-2842?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-2842 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-2842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Openssl Openssl

- [CVE-2009-3245](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3245/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-3738](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-3738/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-63073](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-63073/): Untrusted Sender DN Used as Format String in CMP Response Validation (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-6309](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6309/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-0799](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-0799/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-2842 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-2842 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Openssl Openssl, published on 3 Mar 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-2016-2842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Openssl Openssl. 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-2016-2842/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2842/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-2842
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-2842
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-2842

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2842/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.