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Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2016-4973

high Nessus Plugin ID 254682

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

 - Binaries compiled against targets that use the libssp library in GCC for stack smashing protection (SSP) might allow local users to perform buffer overflow attacks by leveraging lack of the Object Size Checking feature. (CVE-2016-4973)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-4973

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-4973

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 254682

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2016_4973.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/25/2025

Updated: 8/25/2025

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.9

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.6

Temporal Score: 3.4

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2016-4973

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 6.8

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

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:14.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.04, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:gcc-mingw-w64, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:mingw-w64, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/local_checks_enabled, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 8/17/2016

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2016-4973