CVE-2016-8688

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 2.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2017-02-15 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-125

Description

The mtree bidder in libarchive 3.2.1 does not keep track of line sizes when extending the read-ahead, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted file, which triggers an invalid read in the (1) detect_form or (2) bid_entry function in libarchive/archive_read_support_format_mtree.c.

Affected products

libarchive: 3.2.1
openSUSE Leap: 42.2

References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-12/msg00027.html
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/16/11
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93781
https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2016/09/11/libarchive-bsdtar-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-bid_entry-archive_read_support_format_mtree-c/
https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2016/09/11/libarchive-bsdtar-heap-based-buffer-overflow-in-detect_form-archive_read_support_format_mtree-c/
https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2016/09/11/libarchive-bsdtar-memory-corruptionunknown-crash-in-bid_entry-archive_read_support_format_mtree-c/
https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2016/09/11/libarchive-bsdtar-use-after-free-in-bid_entry-archive_read_support_format_mtree-c/
https://blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2016/09/11/libarchive-bsdtar-use-after-free-in-detect_form-archive_read_support_format_mtree-c/
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1377923
https://github.com/libarchive/libarchive/commit/eec077f52bfa2d3f7103b4b74d52572ba8a15aca
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/11/msg00037.html
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-03

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