# CVE-2016-8679: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service via out-of-bounds read in Libdwarf by processing a crafted file with dwarfdump.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Feb 2017
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-8679, GHSA-c3x9-5mjf-g3qh, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-8679

## What is CVE-2016-8679?

CVE-2016-8679 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Feb 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The _dwarf_get_size_of_val function in libdwarf/dwarf_util.c in Libdwarf before 20161124 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) by calling the dwarfdump command on a crafted file.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-8679?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Libdwarf Project Libdwarf.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-8679?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-8679 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8679 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2017-9052](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-9052/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-9054](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-9054/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-9055](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-9055/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-9558](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9558/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-9053](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-9053/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-8679 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-8679 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Feb 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8679 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-2016-8679/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8679/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-8679
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8679
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-8679

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8679/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.