# CVE-2016-9296: Null dereference in n/a

> Attackers can cause a denial of service by providing malformed 7z files to applications using the p7zip library, leading to a crash.

- **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:** 12 Nov 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2016-9296, AZL-35091, AZL-6782, DEBIAN-CVE-2016-9296, GHSA-mqw8-2gg2-v87m

## What is CVE-2016-9296?

CVE-2016-9296 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 12 Nov 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A null pointer dereference bug affects the 16.02 and many old versions of p7zip. A lack of null pointer check for the variable folders.PackPositions in function CInArchive::ReadAndDecodePackedStreams in CPP/7zip/Archive/7z/7zIn.cpp, as used in the 7z.so library and in 7z applications, will cause a crash and a denial of service when decoding malformed 7z files.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-9296?

It affects 1 product.


Products: 7-Zip P7zip.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-9296?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-9296 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9296 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2026-111497](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-111497/): Google Brotli Unchecked Return Value (critical 9.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-47069](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-47069/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2015-1038](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1038/): Path traversal in n/a (medium 5.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-9296 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-9296 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 12 Nov 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-2016-9296 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-2016-9296/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9296/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-9296
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-9296
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-9296

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9296/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.