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Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2016-20037

high Nessus Plugin ID 304209

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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.

 - xwpe 1.5.30a-2.1 and prior contains a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability that allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code by supplying overly long input strings that exceed buffer boundaries.
 Attackers can craft malicious command-line arguments with 262 bytes of junk data followed by shellcode to overwrite the instruction pointer and achieve code execution or denial of service. (CVE-2016-20037)

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-2016-20037

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-20037

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 304209

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2016_20037.nasl

Version: 1.4

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 3/29/2026

Updated: 3/31/2026

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.2

Temporal Score: 6.1

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2016-20037

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.4

Temporal Score: 7.7

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:xwpe, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:xwpe, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:13.0, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.10

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

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 3/28/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2016-20037