CVE-2016-9471: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

LOW
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-j7g3-qm5c-2j6r
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CVSS 3.1
CWE-75
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2016-9471 is a LOW (CVSS 3.1) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-75: Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection)) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product does not adequately filter user-controlled input for special elements with control implications.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2016-9471 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2016-9471
GHSA Identifier GHSA-j7g3-qm5c-2j6r
Severity LOW
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 3.1
CWE Classification CWE-75: Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection)
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 3.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required High (PR:H)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality Low (C:L)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2016-9471

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2016-9471, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-75: Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection), where the product does not adequately filter user-controlled input for special elements with control implications. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Revive Adserver before 3.2.5 and 4.0.0 suffers from Special Element Injection. Usernames weren't properly sanitised when creating users on a Revive Adserver instance. Especially, control characters were not filtered, allowing apparently identical usernames to co-exist in the system, due to the fact that such characters are normally ignored when an HTML page is displayed in a browser. The issue could have therefore been exploited for user spoofing, although elevated privileges are required to create users within Revive Adserver.

References

NVD — CVE-2016-9471 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-9471
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/revive-adserver/revive-adserver/commit/05b1eceb
hackerone.com/reports/128181 WEB
https://hackerone.com/reports/128181
Software Security Information SECURITY
https://www.revive-adserver.com/security/revive-sa-2016-002

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-9471?
CVE-2016-9471 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-75: Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection).
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2016-9471?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-9471?
CVE-2016-9471 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 3.1 (LOW) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2016-9471?
CVE-2016-9471 is classified under CWE-75: Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection) (The product does not adequately filter user-controlled input for special elements with control implications.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2016-9471?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-j7g3-qm5c-2j6r",
  "modified" : "2025-04-20T03:34:57Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-13T01:38:32Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2016-9471" ],
  "details" : "Revive Adserver before 3.2.5 and 4.0.0 suffers from Special Element Injection. Usernames weren't properly sanitised when creating users on a Revive Adserver instance. Especially, control characters were not filtered, allowing apparently identical usernames to co-exist in the system, due to the fact that such characters are normally ignored when an HTML page is displayed in a browser. The issue could have therefore been exploited for user spoofing, although elevated privileges are required to create users within Revive Adserver.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-9471"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/revive-adserver/revive-adserver/commit/05b1eceb"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://hackerone.com/reports/128181"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.revive-adserver.com/security/revive-sa-2016-002"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-75" ],
    "severity" : "LOW",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2017-03-28T02:59:00Z"
  }
}