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Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2016-5180

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2016-10-03
  • WeaknessCWE-787

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Heap-based buffer overflow in the ares_create_query function in c-ares 1.x before 1.12.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds write) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a hostname with an escaped trailing dot.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2016-10-0315:59CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2026-10-2319:23First public proof of conceptPoC-in-GitHub

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 18:48 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2016-5180?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2016-5180?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
C-ares
BranchAffectedFixed in
1.0= 1.0.0no fix published
1.1= 1.1.0no fix published
1.2= 1.2.0no fix published
1.2= 1.2.1no fix published
1.3= 1.3.0no fix published
1.3= 1.3.1no fix published
1.3= 1.3.2no fix published
1.4= 1.4.0no fix published
1.5= 1.5.0no fix published
1.5= 1.5.1no fix published
1.5= 1.5.2no fix published
1.5= 1.5.3no fix published
Canonical ubuntu linux
BranchAffectedFixed in
12.4= 12.04no fix published
14.4= 14.04no fix published
16.4= 16.04no fix published
16.10= 16.10no fix published
Node.js
BranchAffectedFixed in
4.x≥ 4.0.0, < 4.6.14.6.1
0.12≥ 0.12.0, < 0.12.170.12.17
0.10≥ 0.10.0, < 0.10.480.10.48

2 more products in the sources.

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

No fix published by the sources we read yet. NVD record

Detection

read 2026-10-23 19:23 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
3 repositories, unverifiedpouriam23/CVE-2016-5180pouriam23/CVE-2016-5180-docker-pouriam23/final-CVE-2016-5180
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • NVDCVSS 3.19.8read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.07.5read 2026-10-23
  • NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-787read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score8.6 %2026-10-22
  • PoC-in-GitHubproof of concept3read 2026-10-23

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2016-10-03
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-5180?

Heap-based buffer overflow in the ares_create_query function in c-ares 1.x before 1.12.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds write) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a hostname with an escaped trailing dot.

Is CVE-2016-5180 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2016-5180 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 8.6% on 2026-10-22, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2016-5180?

CVE-2016-5180 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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