CVE-2016-20041
Published: 28 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2016-20041 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Sourceforge (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 5.8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-16 (Memory Protection).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2016-20041 is a buffer overflow vulnerability in Yasr version 0.6.9-5. The flaw occurs when the application processes an oversized argument supplied to the -p command-line parameter, leading to stack overflow. This allows local attackers to crash the application or execute arbitrary code by crafting a payload with junk data, shellcode, and a return address to overwrite the stack. The vulnerability is rated with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.4 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and is associated with CWE-22.
Local unprivileged attackers (PR:N) with access to invoke the yasr binary can exploit this vulnerability with low complexity and no user interaction required. By supplying a specially crafted oversized argument to the -p parameter, they can achieve denial of service by crashing the application or gain code execution on the local system, potentially escalating privileges or performing other malicious actions depending on the environment.
Advisories and references, including those from VulnCheck and Exploit-DB, document the issue but do not specify available patches or mitigations in the provided details. The Yasr project homepage is available at http://yasr.sourceforge.net/, with an exploit PoC at https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/39734 and a VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/yasr-5-buffer-overflow-via-command-line-parameter.
A public exploit is available on Exploit-DB, indicating proof-of-concept exploitation is feasible, though no widespread real-world abuse has been noted in the given information.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2016-10837
Vulnerability details
Yasr 0.6.9-5 contains a buffer overflow vulnerability that allows local attackers to crash the application or execute arbitrary code by supplying an oversized argument to the -p parameter. Attackers can invoke yasr with a crafted payload containing junk data, shellcode,…
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and a return address to overwrite the stack and trigger code execution.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Local buffer overflow in command-line tool directly enables arbitrary code execution for privilege escalation by unprivileged attackers.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires validation of command-line inputs like the -p parameter to reject oversized arguments and prevent buffer overflows.
Enforces memory protections such as stack canaries, ASLR, and DEP to block arbitrary code execution from stack overflows.
Mandates flaw remediation by patching or removing vulnerable software like Yasr 0.6.9-5 to eliminate the buffer overflow vulnerability.