CVE-2016-9840: High severity Apple tvOS vulnerability
inftrees.c in zlib 1.2.8 might allow context-dependent attackers to have unspecified impact by leveraging improper pointer arithmetic
Other sources
inftrees.c was subtracting an offset from a pointer to an array, in order to provide a pointer that allowed indexing starting at the offset. This is not compliant with the C standard, for which the behavior of a pointer decremented before its allocated memory is undefined.
External References:
https://wiki.mozilla.org/images/0/09/Zlib-report.pdf https://docs.google.com/document/d/10i1KZS5so8xDqH2rplRa2xet0tyTvvJlLbQQmZIUIKE/edit#heading=h.t13tvnx4loq7
Upstream patch:
https://github.com/madler/zlib/commit/6a043145ca6e9c55184013841a67b2fef87e44c0
CVE assignment:
http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2016/q4/602
— Red Hat
zlib. Multiple issues were addressed by updating to version 1.2.11.
Credit
Affected Software
Remediation
Patch Available
Patch Available
Event History
Parent advisories
This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.
Peer vulnerabilities
Found alongside the following vulnerabilities.
- CVE-2017-13832
- CVE-2017-13829
- CVE-2017-13833
- CVE-2017-7083
- CVE-2017-0381
- CVE-2017-13825
- CVE-2017-13815
- CVE-2017-13828
- CVE-2017-13830
- CVE-2017-13814
- CVE-2017-13831
- CVE-2017-13817
- CVE-2017-13818
- CVE-2017-13836
- CVE-2017-13841
- CVE-2017-13840
- CVE-2017-13842
- CVE-2017-13782
- CVE-2017-13843
- CVE-2017-7114
- CVE-2017-13854
- CVE-2017-13834
- CVE-2017-13873
- CVE-2017-13813
- CVE-2017-13816
- CVE-2017-13812
- CVE-2017-7086
- CVE-2017-1000373
- CVE-2016-9063
- CVE-2017-9233
- CVE-2017-9049
- CVE-2017-5130
- CVE-2017-7376
- CVE-2017-9050
- CVE-2017-13822
- CVE-2017-7080
- CVE-2017-10989
- CVE-2017-7128
- CVE-2017-7129
- CVE-2017-7130
- CVE-2017-7127
- CVE-2017-7081
- CVE-2017-7087
- CVE-2017-7091
- CVE-2017-7092
- CVE-2017-7093
- CVE-2017-7094
- CVE-2017-7095
- CVE-2017-7096
- CVE-2017-7098
- CVE-2017-7099
- CVE-2017-7100
- CVE-2017-7102
- CVE-2017-7104
- CVE-2017-7107
- CVE-2017-7111
- CVE-2017-7117
- CVE-2017-7120
- CVE-2017-7090
- CVE-2017-7109
- CVE-2017-11120
- CVE-2017-11121
- CVE-2017-7103
- CVE-2017-7105
- CVE-2017-7108
- CVE-2017-7110
- CVE-2017-7112
- CVE-2017-7115
- CVE-2017-7116
- CVE-2017-11122
- CVE-2016-9840
- CVE-2016-9841
- CVE-2016-9842
- CVE-2016-9843
- CVE-2016-0736
- CVE-2016-2161
- CVE-2016-5387
- CVE-2016-8740
- CVE-2016-8743
- CVE-2017-13909
- CVE-2017-13809
- CVE-2017-7084
- CVE-2017-7074
- CVE-2017-13820
- CVE-2017-13807
- CVE-2017-7143
- CVE-2017-13821
- CVE-2017-13890
- CVE-2017-13851
- CVE-2017-7138
- CVE-2017-7121
- CVE-2017-7122
- CVE-2017-7123
- CVE-2017-7124
- CVE-2017-7125
- CVE-2017-7126
- CVE-2017-13811
- CVE-2017-13835
- CVE-2017-11103
- CVE-2017-13819
- CVE-2017-13837
- CVE-2017-13906
- CVE-2017-7077
- CVE-2017-7119
- CVE-2017-13810
- CVE-2017-13827
- CVE-2016-4736
- CVE-2018-4302
- CVE-2017-7141
- CVE-2017-7078
- CVE-2017-6451
- CVE-2017-6452
- CVE-2017-6455
- CVE-2017-6458
- CVE-2017-6459
- CVE-2017-6460
- CVE-2017-6462
- CVE-2017-6463
- CVE-2017-6464
- CVE-2016-9042
- CVE-2017-13824
- CVE-2017-13846
- CVE-2017-10140
- CVE-2017-7132
- CVE-2017-13823
- CVE-2017-13808
- CVE-2017-13838
- CVE-2017-7082
- CVE-2017-13908
- CVE-2017-13839
- CVE-2017-13910
- CVE-2017-13863
- CVE-2017-7131
- CVE-2017-7088
- CVE-2017-7072
- CVE-2017-7140
- CVE-2017-7148
- CVE-2017-7097
- CVE-2017-7118
- CVE-2017-7133
- CVE-2017-7075
- CVE-2017-7139
- CVE-2017-13806
- CVE-2017-7085
- CVE-2017-13877
- CVE-2017-7146
- CVE-2017-6211
- CVE-2017-7145
- CVE-2017-7089
- CVE-2017-7106
- CVE-2017-7144
- CVE-2017-7142
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2016-9840?
CVE-2016-9840 has been classified with a severity that could allow attackers to exploit improper pointer arithmetic leading to unspecified impact.
How do I fix CVE-2016-9840?
To fix CVE-2016-9840, update zlib to version 1.2.9 or later, or apply vendor-specific patches as applicable.
Which software versions are affected by CVE-2016-9840?
CVE-2016-9840 affects zlib versions prior to 1.2.9 and several operating systems including older versions of iOS, macOS, and various Linux distributions.
Can CVE-2016-9840 be exploited remotely?
CVE-2016-9840 may allow context-dependent attackers to exploit applications using the vulnerable zlib library, potentially leading to remote attacks.
What are the consequences of CVE-2016-9840 exploitation?
Exploitation of CVE-2016-9840 could result in application crashes or arbitrary code execution due to improper handling of pointers.