OpenSSL: security vulnerability (CVE-2016-2183)
Published Sources: CVE.org, OSV
What is affected, what to do
The DES and Triple DES ciphers, as used in the TLS, SSH, and IPSec protocols and other protocols and products, have a birthday bound of approximately four billion blocks, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTPS session using Triple DES in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
An exploit is publicly available. Update Python Software Foundation CPython to version 2.7.13, Python Software Foundation CPython to version 3.4.7, Python Software Foundation CPython to version 3.5.3.
- Affected
- Red Hat JBoss
eq 6.0.0..6.0.0 - RedHat JBoss Enterprise Web Server
eq 1.0.0..1.0.0 - RedHat JBoss Enterprise Web Server
eq 2.0.0..2.0.0 - Red Hat JBOSS Web Server
eq 3.0..3.0 - Redhat Enterprise Linux
eq 5.0..5.0 - Redhat Enterprise Linux
eq 6.0..6.0 - Redhat Enterprise Linux
eq 7.0..7.0 - Python Software Foundation CPython
lt 2.7.0..2.7.13 - Python Software Foundation CPython
lt 3.4.0..3.4.7 - Python Software Foundation CPython
lt 3.5.0..3.5.3 - Cisco Content Security Management Appliance
eq 9.6.6-068..9.6.6-068 - Cisco Content Security Management Appliance
eq 9.7.0-006..9.7.0-006 - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1a..1.0.1a - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1b..1.0.1b - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1c..1.0.1c - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1d..1.0.1d - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1e..1.0.1e - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1f..1.0.1f - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1g..1.0.1g - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1h..1.0.1h - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1i..1.0.1i - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1j..1.0.1j - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1k..1.0.1k - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1l..1.0.1l - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1m..1.0.1m - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1n..1.0.1n - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1o..1.0.1o - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1p..1.0.1p - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1q..1.0.1q - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1r..1.0.1r - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.1t..1.0.1t - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.2a..1.0.2a - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.2b..1.0.2b - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.2c..1.0.2c - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.2d..1.0.2d - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.2e..1.0.2e - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.2f..1.0.2f - OpenSSL
eq 1.0.2h..1.0.2h - Oracle Database
eq 11.2.0.4..11.2.0.4 - Oracle Database
eq 12.1.0.2..12.1.0.2 - Node
lt 0.10.0..0.10.47 - Node
lt 0.12.0..0.12.16 - Node
lt 4.0.0..4.1.2 - Node
lt 4.2.0..4.6.0 - Node
lt 6.0.0..6.7.0
- Red Hat JBoss
- Fixed in
- Python Software Foundation CPython
2.7.13 - Python Software Foundation CPython
3.4.7 - Python Software Foundation CPython
3.5.3 - Node
0.10.47 - Node
0.12.16 - Node
4.1.2 - Node
4.6.0 - Node
6.7.0
- Python Software Foundation CPython
Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability
Metrics
7.5
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: NVD, CVSS v3
7.5
CVSS v3
Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: CVE.org, OSV
94.7 %
EPSS score
High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.86
Show all metrics
- Severity
- High
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 117.28 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- PoC (publicly reported)
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 7.5 Methodology
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 7.5
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 94.7 %
- High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 99.86
- Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
The DES and Triple DES ciphers, as used in the TLS, SSH, and IPSec protocols and other protocols and products, have a birthday bound of approximately four billion blocks, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTPS session using Triple DES in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| cisco | content_security_management_appliance |
|
|
| nodejs | node.js |
|
|
| openssl | openssl |
|
|
| oracle | database |
|
|
| python | python |
|
|
| redhat | jboss_enterprise_application_platform |
|
|
| redhat | jboss_enterprise_web_server |
|
|
| redhat | jboss_web_server |
|
|
Vendors and products
- Cisco Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA)
- NodeJS Node
- OpenSSL OpenSSL
- Oracle Oracle Database - Enterprise Edition
- Python Software Foundation Python Software Foundation CPython
- Red Hat Redhat Enterprise Linux
- Red Hat Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform
- Red Hat RedHat JBoss Enterprise Web Server
- Red Hat Red Hat JBOSS Web Server
Affected operating systems
| Linux | redhat | enterprise_linux | 5.0 |
| Linux | redhat | enterprise_linux | 6.0 |
| Linux | redhat | enterprise_linux | 7.0 |
Public exploit references
Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.
| Packet Storm | IBM Informix Dynamic Server DLL Injection Code Execution (opens in a new tab)packetstormsecurity.com | PoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified | — |
| Exploit-DB | EDB-ID 42091 (opens in a new tab)exploit-db.com | PoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified | — |
References & sources
- openssl.orgblog/blog/2016/08/24/sweet32advisory, Mitigation, Press coverage, Third-party advisory
- bugs.python.orgissue27850report
- sweet32.infoweb, Technical description, Third-party advisory
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2017:3113Vendor advisory, Third-party advisory
- rhn.redhat.comRHSA-2017:0338Vendor advisory, Third-party advisory
- tenable.comsecurity/tns-2016-20Third-party advisory
- h20566.www2.hpe.comhpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbgn037…Third-party advisory
- security.gentoo.orgGLSA-201612-16Vendor advisory, Third-party advisory
- h20566.www2.hpe.comportal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05369403Third-party advisory
- h20566.www2.hpe.comportal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05385680Third-party advisory
- kb.pulsesecure.netarticles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA40312Third-party advisory
- h20566.www2.hpe.comportal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05369415Third-party advisory
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2017:3240Vendor advisory, Third-party advisory
- tenable.comsecurity/tns-2016-16Third-party advisory
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2017:2709Vendor advisory, Third-party advisory
- securityfocus.com92630Vulnerability database, Third-party advisory, Vulnerability database
- h20566.www2.hpe.comportal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05349499Third-party advisory
- tenable.comsecurity/tns-2016-21Third-party advisory
- kc.mcafee.comcorporate/index?page=content&id=SB10171Third-party advisory
- access.redhat.comRHSA-2017:3239Vendor advisory, Third-party advisory
Embed badge
Show the severity and KEV status of this vulnerability on your site – with a link back here. The image is updated hourly.
<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2016-2183"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2016-2183.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2016-2183 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>