# CVE-2016-8217: Information disclosure in RSA BSAFE Crypto-J RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2

> An attacker can guess PKCS#12 MAC bytes via timing attacks due to non-constant-time comparisons, potentially exposing integrity checks.

- **Severity:** Low 3.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:** No
- **Published:** 3 Feb 2017
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-34fw-m7m3-5c57

## What is CVE-2016-8217?

CVE-2016-8217 is a low-severity vulnerability in RSA BSAFE Crypto-J RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2, published on 3 Feb 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

EMC RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2 has a PKCS#12 Timing Attack Vulnerability. A possible timing attack could be carried out by modifying a PKCS#12 file that has an integrity MAC for which the password is not known. An attacker could then feed the modified PKCS#12 file to the toolkit and guess the current MAC one byte at a time. This is possible because Crypto-J uses a non-constant-time method to compare the stored MAC with the calculated MAC. This vulnerability is similar to the issue described in CVE-2015-2601.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-8217?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Dell Bsafe Crypto-J.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-8217?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-8217 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-8217 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8217 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in RSA BSAFE Crypto-J RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2

- [CVE-2022-34381](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-34381/): Supply chain in Dell BSAFE Crypto-J (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2016-8212](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8212/): Security feature bypass in RSA BSAFE Crypto-J RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2 (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2025-26333](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-26333/): Information disclosure in BSAFE Crypto-J (medium 5.9)
- [CVE-2018-11070](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11070/): Weak cryptography in RSA BSAFE Crypto-J (medium 5.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-8217 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-8217 is a low-severity vulnerability in RSA BSAFE Crypto-J RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2, published on 3 Feb 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-2016-8217 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: RSA BSAFE Crypto-J RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2. 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-2016-8217/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8217/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-8217
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8217
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-8217

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8217/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.