Is CVE-2018-16396 being actively exploited?

CVE-2018-16396 is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2018-16396?

CVE-2018-16396 has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 8.1 (HIGH).

CVE-2018-16396

HIGH · CVSS 8.1EPSS 8.0%EU EUVD

An issue was discovered in Ruby before 2.3.8, 2.4.x before 2.4.5, 2.5.x before 2.5.2, and 2.6.x before 2.6.0-preview3. It does not taint strings that result from unpacking tainted strings with some formats.

Key facts

CVSS score: 8.1 (v3.0)
Severity: HIGH
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS score: 8.0% (95th percentile)
In CISA KEV: No
In EU EUVD: Yes (EUVD-2018-8239)
Published: November 16, 2018
NVD last modified: June 17, 2026
Status: Modified

EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD)

This vulnerability is also tracked by ENISA as EUVD-2018-8239 in the EU Vulnerability Database. Last updated in EUVD on August 5, 2024.

View on the EU Vulnerability Database

Affected products

canonical / ubuntu linux
canonical / ubuntu linux
canonical / ubuntu linux
canonical / ubuntu linux
debian / debian linux
debian / debian linux
redhat / enterprise linux
redhat / enterprise linux
redhat / enterprise linux
redhat / enterprise linux
redhat / enterprise linux
ruby-lang / ruby
ruby-lang / ruby
ruby-lang / ruby

Certified products that may be affected

8 FIPS 140 or Common Criteria certified products, from automated matching by sec-certs.org.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 NSS Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 4498 - historical
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Kernel Crypto API Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 3939 - historical
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 OpenSSH Server Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 3891 - historical
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 OpenSSH Client Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 3892 - historical
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 OpenSSL Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 3867 - historical

See all 8 in the Security Certifications Explorer.

References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-07/msg00036.html
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1042106(Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3729(Third Party Advisory)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3730(Third Party Advisory)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3731(Third Party Advisory)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:2028
https://hackerone.com/reports/385070(Permissions Required, Third Party Advisory)
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/10/msg00020.html(Third Party Advisory)
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190221-0002/(Third Party Advisory)
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3808-1/(Third Party Advisory)
https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4332(Third Party Advisory)
https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2018/10/17/not-propagated-taint-flag-in-some-formats-of-pack-cve-2018-16396/(Vendor Advisory)
https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2018/10/17/ruby-2-3-8-released/(Release Notes)
https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2018/10/17/ruby-2-4-5-released/(Release Notes)
https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2018/10/17/ruby-2-5-2-released/(Release Notes)
https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2018/11/06/ruby-2-6-0-preview3-released/(Release Notes)

Last updated September 17, 2026 · Source: NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS

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