#VU40097 NULL pointer dereference in PHP - CVE-2016-7131

Vulnerability identifier: #VU40097

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 6.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2016-7131

CWE-ID: CWE-476

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
PHP
Universal components / Libraries / Scripting languages

Vendor: PHP Group

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to a NULL pointer dereference error. A remote attacker can trigger denial of service conditions via a malformed wddxPacket XML document that is mishandled in a wddx_deserialize call, as demonstrated by a tag that lacks a < (less than) character.

Mitigation
Cybersecurity Help is currently unaware of any official solution to address this vulnerability.

Vulnerable software versions

PHP: 7.0.0 - 7.0.9

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External links
https://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/09/02/9
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2750.html
https://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php
https://www.php.net/ChangeLog-7.php
https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/92768
https://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036680
https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=72790
https://github.com/php/php-src/commit/a14fdb9746262549bbbb96abb87338bacd147e1b?w=1
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201611-22
https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2016-19

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.