What is CVE-2016-8687?

CVE-2016-8687 is a high-severity vulnerability in Libarchive, classified under Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2017-02-15.

How severe is CVE-2016-8687?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.

Is CVE-2016-8687 known to be exploited?

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

Buffer overflow in Libarchive

CVE-2016-8687

Stack-based buffer overflow in the safe_fprintf function in tar/util.c in libarchive 3.2.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted non-printable multibyte character in a filename.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2017-02-15 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.053 (92.3th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 92nd percentile — 92.3% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.053 · newest: 0.053 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Libarchive — versions 3.2.1
openSUSE Leap — versions 42.2

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-119 — Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

Public proof-of-concept exploits

mrash/afl-cve

References

www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/16/11 (mailing-list, Patch, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/11/msg00037.html (mailing-list)
security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-03 (vendor-advisory, Patch, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/93781 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
blogs.gentoo.org/ago/2016/09/11/libarchive-bsdtar-stack-based-buffer-overflow-i… (Patch, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi (Patch, Issue Tracking)
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-12/msg00027.html (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
www.securitytracker.com/id/1037668 (vdb-entry)
github.com/libarchive/libarchive/commit/e37b620fe8f14535d737e89a4dcabaed4517bf1a (Patch, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-8687?: CVE-2016-8687 is a high-severity vulnerability in Libarchive, classified under Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2017-02-15.
How severe is CVE-2016-8687?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2016-8687 known to be exploited?: 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.