# CVE-2016-9452: Drupal Denial of service via transliterate mechanism

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service in Drupal 8.x via a crafted URL exploiting the transliterate mechanism.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.0/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:** 25 Nov 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jpj8-49hr-wcwv

## What is CVE-2016-9452?

CVE-2016-9452 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Drupal Drupal, published on 25 Nov 2016. 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 transliterate mechanism in Drupal 8.x before 8.2.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted URL.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-9452?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including drupal/core and drupal/drupal. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `drupal/core` | Packagist | From 8.0 | 8.2.3 |
| `drupal/core` | Packagist | From 8.0 | 8.2.3 |
| `drupal/drupal` | Packagist | From 8.0 | 8.2.3 |
| `drupal/drupal` | Packagist | From 8.0 | 8.2.3 |

Products: Drupal Drupal.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-9452?

Upgrade drupal/core to 8.2.3 or later.

## Is CVE-2016-9452 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9452 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Drupal Drupal

- [CVE-2026-9082](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-9082/): Drupal Core SQL Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-13671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-13671/): Drupal core Un-restricted Upload of File (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-6340](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6340/): Drupal Core Remote Code Execution (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2009-3352](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3352/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2024-55636](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-55636/): Drupal core - Less critical - Gadget chain - SA-CORE-2024-006 (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-9452 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-9452 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Drupal Drupal, published on 25 Nov 2016. 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-2016-9452 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- drupal/core (Packagist): affected from 8.0; fixed in 8.2.3
- drupal/core (Packagist): affected from 8.0; fixed in 8.2.3
- drupal/drupal (Packagist): affected from 8.0; fixed in 8.2.3
- drupal/drupal (Packagist): affected from 8.0; fixed in 8.2.3

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-2016-9452/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9452/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-9452
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-9452
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-9452

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9452/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.