Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2016-4971

GNU wget before 1.18 allows remote servers to write to arbitrary files by redirecting a request from HTTP to a crafted FTP resource.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required 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 gnu, from canonical, from oracle 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

2016-06-30T17:59:07.893

Last Modified

2025-04-12T10:46:40.837

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 8.8 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: MEDIUM
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: NONE
Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
Availability Impact: NONE

Exploitability Score

8.6

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
NVD-CWE-noinfo

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	gnu	wget	< 1.18	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	12.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	14.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	15.10	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	16.04	Yes
Operating System	oracle	solaris	10	Yes
Operating System	oracle	solaris	11.3	Yes
Operating System	paloaltonetworks	pan-os	≤ 6.1.16	Yes
Operating System	paloaltonetworks	pan-os	≤ 7.0.14	Yes
Operating System	paloaltonetworks	pan-os	≤ 7.1.9	Yes

References

http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/wget.git/commit/?id=e996e322ffd42aaa051602da182d03178d0f13e1 Patch, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2016-06/msg00004.html Mailing List, Patch, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-08/msg00043.html Broken Link ([email protected])
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162395/GNU-wget-Arbitrary-File-Upload-Code-Execution.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2587.html Broken Link ([email protected])
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjul2016-3090568.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/91530 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036133 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3012-1 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1343666 Exploit, Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201610-11 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2016-4971 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40064/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/wget.git/commit/?id=e996e322ffd42aaa051602da182d03178d0f13e1 Patch, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2016-06/msg00004.html Mailing List, Patch, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-08/msg00043.html Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162395/GNU-wget-Arbitrary-File-Upload-Code-Execution.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2587.html Broken Link (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjul2016-3090568.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/91530 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036133 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3012-1 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1343666 Exploit, Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201610-11 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://security.paloaltonetworks.com/CVE-2016-4971 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40064/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (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 gnu'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.