CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2016-9939 — Crypto++ (aka cryptopp and libcrypto++) 5.6.4 contained a bug in its ASN.1 BER decoding routine

High CVSS 7.5

Crypto++ (aka cryptopp and libcrypto++) 5.6.4 contained a bug in its ASN.1 BER decoding routine. The library will allocate a memory block based on the length field of the ASN.1 object. If there is not enough content octets in the ASN.1 object, then the function will fail and the memory block will be zeroed even if its unused. There is a noticeable delay during the wipe for a large allocation.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.0)
Published
2017-01-30
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-20

Affected products

  • cryptopp / crypto++ / 5.6.4
  • debian / debian_linux / 8.0

Matched remediation archetype

General vulnerability remediation

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Confirm the affected component, deployment paths, reachable interfaces, and enabled features from inventories and configuration, without probing production destructively.
  • Compare the advisory's affected conditions with the repository lockfiles, build manifests, artifacts, and runtime inventory.
  • Identify data sensitivity, trust boundaries, and privilege level for every confirmed affected deployment.

Remediate safely

  • Apply a vendor-supported fix or remove the affected component or feature; record the selected change and its source in the repository.
  • Update direct and transitive dependency locks, generated artifacts, deployment manifests, and asset inventories together.
  • Add a regression test for the documented unsafe condition using inert inputs and preserve rollback instructions.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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