CVE-2016-3861 Memory corruption in n/a

What is CVE-2016-3861?

CVE-2016-3861 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Google Android, published on 11 Sep 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

LibUtils in Android 4.x before 4.4.4, 5.0.x before 5.0.2, 5.1.x before 5.1.1, 6.x before 2016-09-01, and 7.0 before 2016-09-01 mishandles conversions between Unicode character encodings with different encoding widths, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (heap-based buffer overflow) via a crafted file, aka internal bug 29250543.

Weakness: CWE-264, CWE-119

Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-3861?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Google Android.

How do I fix CVE-2016-3861?

Apply the vendor's patch.

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

Is CVE-2016-3861 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2016-3861 exists.

Public exploit code: 1 Exploit-DB entry and 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.

Other vulnerabilities in Google Android

• CVE-2026-58704 Google Pixel Improper Authorization Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2025-48543 Android Runtime Use-After-Free Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2023-35674 Android Framework Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2025-48595 Android Framework Integer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2024-32896 Android Pixel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.1

All Google Android vulnerabilities

Sources

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

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2016-3861, GHSA-42m2-m4h3-qr94, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-3861.