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CVE-2016-4301

26
FAUCET Score

CVE-2016-4301 describes a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the parse_device function of libarchive, specifically within the mtree file format parsing. This flaw allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking a user into opening a specially crafted mtree file. With a CVSS score of 7.8 (High), this vulnerability has a high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, requiring user interaction but being low in attack complexity. While there is no evidence of active exploitation or public exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), the vulnerability has garnered some community discussion and media coverage, indicating awareness within the security community.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
<= 3.2.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:libarchive:libarchive:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.0

7.8HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
1.8
Impact Score
5.9
CvssVersion
3.0

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
3.72%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
88.6%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-27
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0372 is in the 89th percentile among its peer group of 11,616 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.1 Bluesky, 0.0 Mastodon, and 0.2 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (1)

github_advisorypatch availablevia nvd_reference
View patch

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2016-4301Low

libarchive: Stack buffer overflow in the mtree parse_device

Jun 19, 2016

References

blog.talosintel.com / 2016/06/the-poisoned-archives.html
ExploitThird Party Advisory
bugzilla.redhat.com / show_bug.cgi
Issue Tracking
github.com / libarchive/libarchive/commit/a550daeecf6bc689ade371349892ea17b5b97c77
Issue TrackingPatch
github.com / libarchive/libarchive/issues/715
Issue TrackingPatch
security.gentoo.org / glsa/201701-03
oracle.com / technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjul2016-3090568.html
securityfocus.com / bid/91328
talosintel.com / reports/TALOS-2016-0153
ExploitThird Party Advisory