# CVE-2016-7420: Information disclosure in n/a

> Attackers can read sensitive data from core dumps if assertions are enabled in production due to missing documentation on disabling them.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Sep 2016
- **Updated:** 14 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-7420, GHSA-xh64-jjg2-744m, MGASA-2016-0333, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-7420

## What is CVE-2016-7420?

CVE-2016-7420 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 16 Sep 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Crypto++ (aka cryptopp) through 5.6.4 does not document the requirement for a compile-time NDEBUG definition disabling the many assert calls that are unintended in production use, which might allow context-dependent attackers to obtain sensitive information by leveraging access to process memory after an assertion failure, as demonstrated by reading a core dump.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-7420?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cryptopp Crypto\+\+.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-7420?

Change a configuration setting.

## Is CVE-2016-7420 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-7420 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2023-50980](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-50980/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2023-50981](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-50981/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2022-48570](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48570/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2016-3995](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3995/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2016-7544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7544/): Use after free in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-7420 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-7420 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 16 Sep 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-2016-7420 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-2016-7420/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7420/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-7420
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-7420
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-7420

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7420/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.