CVE-2016-8714 Memory corruption in R

What is CVE-2016-8714?

CVE-2016-8714 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 10 Mar 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

An exploitable buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the LoadEncoding functionality of the R programming language version 3.3.0. A specially crafted R script can cause a buffer overflow resulting in a memory corruption. An attacker can send a malicious R script to trigger this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-120

Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-8714?

It affects 2 products.

Products include Debian Debian Linux, R Project R.

How do I fix CVE-2016-8714?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2016-8714 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8714 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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• CVE-2025-39682 Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2024-9680 Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free Exploited Critical 9.8

All Debian Debian Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2016-8714, DLA-861-1, DSA-3813-1, GHSA-468j-7q62-ffj2, MGASA-2017-0236, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-8714 and 1 more.