What is CVE-2016-7408?

CVE-2016-7408 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dropbear SSH Project, classified under Improper Access Control. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2017-03-03.

How severe is CVE-2016-7408?

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

Vulnerability in Dropbear SSH Project

CVE-2016-7408

The dbclient in Dropbear SSH before 2016.74 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted (1) -m or (2) -c argument.

Published 2017-03-03 · 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: 0.043 (90.7th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 91st percentile — 90.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.040 · newest: 0.043 · change: +0.003

Affected products

Dropbear SSH Project

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-284 — Improper Access Control

References

security.gentoo.org/glsa/201702-23 (vendor-advisory, Patch, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/92970 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/09/15/2 (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi (Issue Tracking)
secure.ucc.asn.au/hg/dropbear/rev/eed9376a4ad6 (Patch, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-7408?: CVE-2016-7408 is a high-severity vulnerability in Dropbear SSH Project, classified under Improper Access Control. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2017-03-03.
How severe is CVE-2016-7408?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.