Cyber Resilience

CVE-2016-1646

Memory Safety in Canonical Ubuntu Linux 14.04 … 16.04

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
29 March 2016
Modified
21 April 2026
KEV Added
08 June 2022
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.48 99th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2016-1646 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability CVE-2016-1646 is an out-of-bounds read (CWE-125) in the Array.prototype.concat implementation within builtins.cc in Google V8, as used in Google Chrome before version 49.0.2623.108. The root cause is failure to properly account for element data types during array concatenation operations.

Remote attackers can exploit the issue by serving crafted JavaScript to a victim, triggering the flaw to cause a denial of service or potentially other unspecified impacts. The CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8 reflects network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges or user interaction required beyond rendering the script, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Public advisories and patches referenced in the Google Chrome stable channel update, multiple openSUSE security announcements, and Red Hat errata RHSA-2016-0525 address mitigation by updating affected V8 and Chrome installations to corrected versions. No information on observed in-the-wild exploitation is provided in the source details.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The Array.prototype.concat implementation in builtins.cc in Google V8, as used in Google Chrome before 49.0.2623.108, does not properly consider element data types, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) or possibly have unspecified other impact…

more

via crafted JavaScript code.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
08 June 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2017-5030Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2014-0160Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2018-17480Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2024-53150Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2020-6418Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2023-42916Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2018-6065Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2014-0497Same product: Google Chromeboth on KEV
CVE-2021-4034Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2021-25487Shared CWE-125both on KEV

Affected Assets

debian
debian linux
8.0, 9.0
canonical
ubuntu linux
14.04, 15.10, 16.04
google
chrome
≤ 49.0.2623.108
suse
package hub
all versions
opensuse
leap
42.1
opensuse
opensuse
13.1
redhat
enterprise linux desktop
6.0
redhat
enterprise linux eus
6.7
redhat
enterprise linux server
6.0
redhat
enterprise linux workstation
6.0

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.

References