# CVE-2016-6293: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service via out-of-bounds read in ICU library when processing long HTTP Accept-Language headers.

- **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:** 25 Jul 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2016-6293, CLEANSTART-2026-HM87763, DEBIAN-CVE-2016-6293, DLA-615-1, GHSA-jw29-rmwq-xp9m, MGASA-2016-0314, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-6293

## What is CVE-2016-6293?

CVE-2016-6293 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 25 Jul 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The uloc_acceptLanguageFromHTTP function in common/uloc.cpp in International Components for Unicode (ICU) through 57.1 for C/C++ does not ensure that there is a '\0' character at the end of a certain temporary array, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a call with a long httpAcceptLanguage argument.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-6293?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Icu-Project International Components for Unicode.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-6293?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-6293 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-6293 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2018-18928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-18928/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-17484](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17484/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-14952](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-14952/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-9911](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9911/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-7415](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7415/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-6293 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-6293 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 25 Jul 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-2016-6293 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-2016-6293/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6293/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-6293
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-6293
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-6293

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6293/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.