# CVE-2016-7053: CMS Null dereference

> Applications parsing invalid CMS structures in OpenSSL can crash due to a NULL pointer dereference, causing denial of service.

- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 May 2017
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-7053, GHSA-hp2v-mmp5-5mcx

## What is CVE-2016-7053?

CVE-2016-7053 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openssl Openssl, published on 4 May 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In OpenSSL 1.1.0 before 1.1.0c, applications parsing invalid CMS structures can crash with a NULL pointer dereference. This is caused by a bug in the handling of the ASN.1 CHOICE type in OpenSSL 1.1.0 which can result in a NULL value being passed to the structure callback if an attempt is made to free certain invalid encodings. Only CHOICE structures using a callback which do not handle NULL value are affected.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-7053?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Openssl Openssl.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-7053?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-7053 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-7053 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Openssl Openssl

- [CVE-2009-3245](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3245/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-3738](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-3738/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-63073](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-63073/): Untrusted Sender DN Used as Format String in CMP Response Validation (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-6309](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6309/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-0799](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-0799/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-7053 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-7053 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openssl Openssl, published on 4 May 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-2016-7053 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Openssl Openssl. 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-2016-7053/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7053/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-7053
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-7053
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-7053

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7053/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.