CVE-2016-5180

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-05-14. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 9%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

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.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EPSS
94.4%
KEV
Not listed

Published

October 3, 2016

Last Modified

May 6, 2026

Advisory Details (8)

Auto-updated May 8, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. No patch confirmed yet.
generic
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0002.html
generic

Android Security Bulletin—January 2017  |  Android Open Source Project

https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2017-01-01.html
generic

c-ares: Heap-based buffer overflow (GLSA 201701-28) — Gentoo security

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-28
generic

Chrome Releases: Stable Channel Update for Chrome OS

https://googlechromereleases.blogspot.in/2016/09/stable-channel-updates-for-chrome-os.html
generic🟡 PoC Available

ares_create_query single byte out of buffer write | c-ares: a modern asynchronous DNS resolver

https://c-ares.haxx.se/adv_20160929.html
generic
https://c-ares.haxx.se/CVE-2016-5180.patch
generic
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93243
generic

[SECURITY] [DSA 3682-1] c-ares security update

http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3682

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2016-5180(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntulibc-ares2 (1.11.0-1ubuntu0.1) @ yakkety2026-05-20ubuntu
redhatrh-nodejs4-nodejs-0:4.6.2-4.el72017-01-02redhat

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Additional Vendor Advisories

(1)

Vendors that published advisories for this CVE beyond the curated set above. Broader coverage but minimal per-row detail — click through for the original advisory.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 9× in last 7d / 40× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-28 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-19 16:55 UTCOSV refresh
Show 73 more
  1. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-10 13:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-05-30 22:53 UTCOSV refresh
  29. 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-05-26 07:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-05-24 16:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-05-21 22:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-05-20 09:02 UTCEG score recompute
  46. 2026-05-20 09:02 UTCVendor advisory
  47. 2026-05-20 09:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-05-20 04:58 UTCEG score recompute
  49. 2026-05-20 04:58 UTCVendor advisory
  50. 2026-05-20 04:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-05-20 00:54 UTCEG score recompute
  52. 2026-05-20 00:54 UTCVendor advisory
  53. 2026-05-20 00:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-05-19 20:56 UTCEG score recompute
  55. 2026-05-19 20:56 UTCVendor advisory
  56. 2026-05-19 20:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-05-19 17:00 UTCEG score recompute
  58. 2026-05-19 17:00 UTCVendor advisory
  59. 2026-05-19 17:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-05-19 12:45 UTCEG score recompute
  61. 2026-05-19 12:45 UTCVendor advisory
  62. 2026-05-19 12:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  63. 2026-05-19 08:45 UTCEG score recompute
  64. 2026-05-19 08:45 UTCVendor advisory
  65. 2026-05-19 08:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-05-19 04:50 UTCEG score recompute
  67. 2026-05-19 04:50 UTCVendor advisory
  68. 2026-05-19 04:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  69. 2026-05-19 00:54 UTCEG score recompute
  70. 2026-05-19 00:54 UTCVendor advisory
  71. 2026-05-19 00:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2016-5180?
CVE-2016-5180 is a critical vulnerability published on October 3, 2016. Heap-based buffer overflow in the arescreatequery 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.
When was CVE-2016-5180 disclosed?
CVE-2016-5180 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on October 3, 2016, with the most recent update on May 6, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2016-5180 actively exploited?
CVE-2016-5180 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 94.4% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-5180?
CVE-2016-5180 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2016-5180?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2016-5180, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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