Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2016-9963

Exim before 4.87.1 might allow remote attackers to obtain the private DKIM signing key via vectors related to log files and bounce messages.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.9, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network but requires specific conditions to be met without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), for affected systems. Impacting 3 products from exim, from canonical, from debian organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2017, 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

2017-02-01T15:59:00.270

Last Modified

2025-04-20T01:37:25.860

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 5.9 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

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

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

Exploitability Score

4.9

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-320

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	exim	exim	≤ 4.87	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	12.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	14.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	16.04	Yes
Operating System	canonical	ubuntu_linux	16.10	Yes
Operating System	debian	debian_linux	8.0	Yes

References

http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3747 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.exim.org/static/doc/CVE-2016-9963.txt Mitigation, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94947 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037484 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3164-1 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1996 Issue Tracking, Mitigation, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3747 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.exim.org/static/doc/CVE-2016-9963.txt Mitigation, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94947 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037484 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3164-1 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugs.exim.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1996 Issue Tracking, Mitigation, Vendor Advisory (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 exim'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.