# CVE-2016-3878: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause Android devices to hang or reboot by sending a crafted media file that triggers a decoding error in the mediaserver.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 11 Sep 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-g65v-vq66-6fc7, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-3878

## What is CVE-2016-3878?

CVE-2016-3878 is a medium-severity denial of service 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

decoder/ih264d_api.c in mediaserver in Android 6.x before 2016-09-01 mishandles the case of decoding zero MBs, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device hang or reboot) via a crafted media file, aka internal bug 29493002.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-3878?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Google Android.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-3878?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-3878 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-3878 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-3878 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Google Android

- [CVE-2026-58704](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-58704/): Google Pixel Improper Authorization (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-48543](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48543/): Android Runtime Use-After-Free (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-35674](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-35674/): Android Framework Privilege Escalation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-48595](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48595/): Android Framework Integer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-32896](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-32896/): Android Pixel Privilege Escalation (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-3878 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-3878 is a medium-severity denial of service 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-3878 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Google Android. 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-2016-3878/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3878/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-3878
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-3878
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-3878

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3878/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.