Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2016-1601

yast2-users before 3.1.47, as used in SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 SP1, does not properly set empty password fields in /etc/shadow during an AutoYaST installation when the profile does not contain inst-sys users, which might allow attackers to have unspecified impact via unknown vectors.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a CRITICAL severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 4 products from suse, from suse, from suse and 1 other, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2016, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2016-04-26T14:59:00.127

Last Modified

2025-04-12T10:46:40.837

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 9.8 (CRITICAL)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: COMPLETE

Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-255

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Operating System	suse	yast2	*	Yes
Operating System	suse	linux_enterprise_desktop	12	No
Operating System	suse	linux_enterprise_server	12	No
Operating System	suse	linux_enterprise_software_development_kit	12	No

References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-04/msg00051.html ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-05/msg00007.html ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=974220 ([email protected])
https://build.opensuse.org/request/show/388020 ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-04/msg00051.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-05/msg00007.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=974220 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://build.opensuse.org/request/show/388020 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For suse's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.