# CVE-2016-7054: ChaCha20/Poly1305 heap-buffer-overflow

> A heap-buffer-overflow in OpenSSL's ChaCha20/Poly1305 implementation allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted TLS payloads.

- **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:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-7054, GHSA-3rqr-v2gc-jxp4

## What is CVE-2016-7054?

CVE-2016-7054 is a high-severity memory corruption 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, TLS connections using *-CHACHA20-POLY1305 ciphersuites are susceptible to a DoS attack by corrupting larger payloads. This can result in an OpenSSL crash. This issue is not considered to be exploitable beyond a DoS.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-7054?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Openssl Openssl.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-7054?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-7054 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-7054 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- OpenSSL 1.1.0a/1.1.0b - Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## 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-2016-7054 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-7054 is a high-severity memory corruption 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-2016-7054 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-2016-7054/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7054/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-7054
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-7054
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-7054

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7054/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.