What is CVE-2016-5716?

CVE-2016-5716 is a high-severity vulnerability in Puppet Enterprise, classified under Use of Externally-Controlled Format String. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2017-08-09.

How severe is CVE-2016-5716?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Puppet Enterprise

CVE-2016-5716

The console in Puppet Enterprise 2015.x and 2016.x prior to 2016.4.0 includes unsafe string reads that potentially allows for remote code execution on the console node.

Published 2017-08-09 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.018 (77.9th percentile), scored 2026-10-20.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 78th percentile — 77.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.018 · newest: 0.018 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Puppet Enterprise — versions PE < 2016.4.0
Puppet Enterprise — versions 2015.2.0, 2015.2.1, 2015.2.2

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-134 — Use of Externally-Controlled Format String

References

puppet.com/security/cve/pe-console-oct-2016 (Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-5716?: CVE-2016-5716 is a high-severity vulnerability in Puppet Enterprise, classified under Use of Externally-Controlled Format String. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2017-08-09.
How severe is CVE-2016-5716?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.