What is CVE-2016-6318?

CVE-2016-6318 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cracklib Project, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2016-09-07.

How severe is CVE-2016-6318?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2016-6318 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Buffer overflow in Cracklib Project

CVE-2016-6318

Stack-based buffer overflow in the FascistGecosUser function in lib/fascist.c in cracklib allows local users to cause a denial of service (application crash) or gain privileges via a long GECOS field, involving longbuffer.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2016-09-07 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.007 (52.9th percentile), scored 2026-10-02.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 53rd percentile — 52.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.007 · newest: 0.007 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Cracklib Project
Debian Linux — versions 8.0
openSUSE Leap — versions 42.1

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-787 — Out-of-bounds Write

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/08/16/2 (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-08/msg00122.html (vendor-advisory, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/92478 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
security.gentoo.org/glsa/201612-25 (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/05/msg00023.html (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf4c02775860db415b4955778a131c2795223f61cb8c6a4508… (mailing-list)
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r58af02e294bd07f487e2c64ffc0a29b837db5600e33b6e698… (mailing-list)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-6318?: CVE-2016-6318 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cracklib Project, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2016-09-07.
How severe is CVE-2016-6318?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2016-6318 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.