# CVE-2016-3104: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service in MongoDB by authenticating against a non-existent database when using legacy user configurations.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/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:** No
- **Published:** 14 Apr 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-pcc8-h4hw-2238, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-3104

## What is CVE-2016-3104?

CVE-2016-3104 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Mongodb Mongodb, published on 14 Apr 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

mongod in MongoDB 2.6, when using 2.4-style users, and 2.4 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and process termination) by leveraging in-memory database representation when authenticating against a non-existent database.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-3104?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mongodb Mongodb.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-3104?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-3104 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-3104 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-3104 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Mongodb Mongodb

- [CVE-2025-14847](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-14847/): MongoDB and MongoDB Server Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency (high 8.7, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-82067](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-82067/): Auth bypass in MongoDB Server (critical 9.2)
- [CVE-2026-13072](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13072/): MongoDB Improper Input Validation in Compute Mode External Data Processing Leading to Memory Corruption (critical 9.2)
- [CVE-2017-15535](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15535/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2026-18691](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-18691/): Improper Authentication in MongoDB Intra-Cluster Connections Allows Credential Exposure (critical 9.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-3104 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-3104 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Mongodb Mongodb, published on 14 Apr 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-2016-3104 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Mongodb Mongodb. 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-2016-3104/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3104/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-3104
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-3104
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-3104

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3104/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.