# CVE-2016-5537: Path traversal in n/a

> Local attackers can exploit a directory traversal flaw in NetBeans to write arbitrary files via malicious ZIP archives, leading to privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.7 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Oct 2016
- **Updated:** 10 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-5537, GHSA-796c-c9w7-xqff, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-5537

## What is CVE-2016-5537?

CVE-2016-5537 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 25 Oct 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Unspecified vulnerability in the NetBeans component in Oracle Fusion Middleware 8.1 allows local users to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via unknown vectors. NOTE: the previous information is from the October 2016 CPU. Oracle has not commented on third-party claims that this issue is a directory traversal vulnerability which allows local users with certain permissions to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain privileges via a .. (dot dot) in a archive entry in a ZIP file imported as a project.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-5537?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Oracle Netbeans.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-5537?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2016-5537 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-5537 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-5537 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-5537 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 25 Oct 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-5537 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2016-5537/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5537/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-5537
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-5537
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-5537

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5537/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.