Buffer overflow in Trn Threaded Usenet News Reader
CVE-2016-20042
TRN 3.6-23 contains a stack buffer overflow vulnerability that allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code by supplying an oversized argument to the application. Attackers can craft a malicious command-line argument with 156 bytes of padding followed by a return address to overwrite the instruction pointer and execute shellcode with user privileges.
Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 8.4 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.001 (3.1th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 3rd percentile — 3.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: 0.000
Affected products
- Trn Threaded Usenet News Reader — versions 3.6-23
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- www.exploit-db.com/exploits/39764 (exploit)
- sourceforge.net/projects/trn/ (product)
- www.vulncheck.com/advisories/trn-23-stack-buffer-overflow-local-code-execution (third-party-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2016-20042?
- CVE-2016-20042 is a high-severity vulnerability in Trn Threaded Usenet News Reader, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 8.4/10. Published 2026-03-28.
- How severe is CVE-2016-20042?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.4 out of 10.