CVE-2019-16941

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-05-24. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Elevated
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 5.1%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: Elevated riskExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

NSA Ghidra through 9.0.4, when experimental mode is enabled, allows arbitrary code execution if the Read XML Files feature of Bit Patterns Explorer is used with a modified XML document. This occurs in Features/BytePatterns/src/main/java/ghidra/bitpatterns/info/FileBitPatternInfoReader.java. An attack could start with an XML document that was originally created by DumpFunctionPatternInfoScript but then directly modified by an attacker (for example, to make a java.lang.Runtime.exec call).

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8CRITICALmedium confidence
EG Risk
65
EG Risk 65/100CISA SSVC

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
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation40% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
CISA SSVC: Track at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.
EPSS PROB
5.1%
EPSS %ILE
92nd
KEV
Not listed

CISA SSVCTrack at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.

Exploitation public PoC (EG-KEV: elevated) · Automatable unknown (not published for this CVE) · Technical impact total (CVSS ≥ 9.0). Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it: high means the affected system is essential to your organisation's mission, or its compromise could cause irreversible harm to people. CISA's decision table

Published

September 28, 2019

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

Advisory Details (6)

Auto-updated Oct 5, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available. Sources: github_commit.
generic🟡 PoC Available

GitHub - purpleracc00n/CVE-2019-16941: PoC for CVE-2019-16941 · GitHub

https://github.com/purpleracc00n/CVE-2019-16941
generic

RCE possible in Function Bit Patterns Explorer Plugin · Issue #1090 · NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · GitHub

https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/issues/1090
github_commit Patch Available

commit a17728f8c12e (NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra)

Patch available: NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra Ghidra_10.3_build (contains commit a17728f8c12e)

https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/commit/a17728f8c12effa171b17a25ccfb7e7d9528c5d0
generic

ghidra/Ghidra/Features/BytePatterns/src/main/java/ghidra/bitpatterns/info/FileBitPatternInfoReader.java at 79d8f164f8bb8b15cfb60c5d4faeb8e1c25d15ca · NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra · GitHub

https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra/blob/79d8f164f8bb8b15cfb60c5d4faeb8e1c25d15ca/Ghidra/Features/BytePatterns/src/main/java/ghidra/bitpatterns/info/FileBitPatternInfoReader.java#L187-L188
generic

Symantec Security Center

https://www.symantec.com/security-center/vulnerabilities/writeup/110223?om_rssid=sr-advisories
generic

NSA/CSS on X: "#Ghidra Users: A flaw currently exists within Ghidra versions through 9.0.4. The conditions needed to exploit this flaw are rare and a patch is currently being worked. This flaw is not a serious issue as long as you don’t accept XML files from an untrusted source." / X

https://twitter.com/NSAGov/status/1178812792159248385

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 6× 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.

Showing the most recent 100 of 154 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-10-09 20:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-10-08 16:37 UTCEPSS rescore
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  9. 2026-09-30 10:13 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-09-28 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-09-27 18:29 UTCOSV refresh
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  1. 2026-09-11 14:48 UTCEPSS rescore
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  3. 2026-09-08 03:22 UTCOSV refresh
  4. 2026-09-07 15:57 UTCEPSS rescore
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  43. 2026-07-23 01:41 UTCEG score recompute
  44. 2026-07-22 22:21 UTCEG score recompute
  45. 2026-07-22 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
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  48. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
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  50. 2026-07-20 04:46 UTCOSV refresh
  51. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
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  75. 2026-07-02 20:35 UTCOSV refresh

Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

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

  • GitHub PoCpurpleracc00n/CVE-2019-16941
    First seen Oct 1, 2019

    PoC for CVE-2019-16941

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2019-16941?
CVE-2019-16941 is a critical vulnerability published on September 28, 2019. NSA Ghidra through 9.0.4, when experimental mode is enabled, allows arbitrary code execution if the Read XML Files feature of Bit Patterns Explorer is used with a modified XML document. This occurs in Features/BytePatterns/src/main/java/ghidra/bitpatterns/info/FileBitPatternInfoReader.java. An…
When was CVE-2019-16941 disclosed?
CVE-2019-16941 was first published on September 28, 2019, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2019-16941 actively exploited?
CVE-2019-16941 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 5.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (92nd percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-16941?
CVE-2019-16941 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2019-16941?
A fix for CVE-2019-16941 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory.

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