CVE-2016-6515

HIGHNVD 7.58.3▲
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 8.3 because EPSS predicts 59% probability of exploitation within the next 30 days (top 1.0% of all CVEs). NVD baseline CVSS 7.5 retained for reference. Confidence: see factors.

Triggered by: EPSS exploit prediction ≥85%
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Elevated
7.5
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • 767 internet-exposed hosts are running an affected version right now
  • High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 59%
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 59%CVSS: 7.5Exploit: NoneExposed: 767

A fix is available — apply it.

The auth_password function in auth-passwd.c in sshd in OpenSSH before 7.3 does not limit password lengths for password authentication, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crypt CPU consumption) via a long string.

Live · internet exposure

767 internet-exposed hosts are running an affected version of CVE-2016-6515 right now.

across 26 countries (China, United States, Japan, Germany, France)top: openssh
See the live KEV-Exposure radar →Found passively from public internet-scan data — aggregate, host-redacted.

EchelonGraph is the only CVE feed that fuses live vulnerability intelligence with its own live internet-exposure radar — so you see not just that a CVE is exploited, but how much of the internet is exposed to it right now.

CVSS v3
7.5
EG Score
8.3(high)
EG Risk
65(Track)
EG Risk 65/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity83% × 45%
Exploitation59% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS
99.0%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 7, 2016

Last Modified

May 6, 2026

References (30)

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntussh-krb5 (1:7.2p2-4ubuntu2.1) @ xenial2026-05-22ubuntu
redhatopenssh-0:7.4p1-11.el72017-08-01redhat

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.

All Vendor Advisories

(2)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 27× 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. 2026-07-24 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-23 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-23 01:23 UTCEG score recompute▲ 0.80
  4. 2026-07-22 22:03 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-07-22 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-15 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-13 22:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-07-13 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-07-12 08:08 UTCOSV refresh
  19. 2026-07-11 08:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 50 more
  1. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-23 13:30 UTCOSV refresh
  6. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-06 15:59 UTCOSV refresh
  25. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-05-22 21:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-05-22 19:05 UTCEG score recompute
  43. 2026-05-22 19:05 UTCVendor advisory
  44. 2026-05-22 19:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(2 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 GitHub PoC) (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoCopsxcq/exploit-CVE-2016-6515
    First seen Dec 9, 2016

    OpenSSH remote DOS exploit and vulnerable container

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-40888
    First seen Dec 7, 2016

    OpenSSH 7.2 - Denial of Service

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2016-6515?
CVE-2016-6515 is a high vulnerability published on August 7, 2016. The auth_password function in auth-passwd.c in sshd in OpenSSH before 7.3 does not limit password lengths for password authentication, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crypt CPU consumption) via a long string.
When was CVE-2016-6515 disclosed?
CVE-2016-6515 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 7, 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-2016-6515 actively exploited?
CVE-2016-6515 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 99.0% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-6515?
CVE-2016-6515 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 8.3.
How do I remediate CVE-2016-6515?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2016-6515, 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.

Dependency Blast Radius

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