CVE-2016-6354 — Heap-based buffer overflow in the yy_get_next_buffer function in Flex before 2

Heap-based buffer overflow in the yy_get_next_buffer function in Flex before 2.6.1 might allow context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code via vectors involving num_to_read.

01What is this vulnerability?

Heap-based buffer overflow in the yy_get_next_buffer function in Flex before 2.6.1 might allow context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code via vectors involving num_to_read.

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
n	a / n/a	n/a

03Active exploitation status

Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.

07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2016-09-21T14:00:00.000Z
• Last modified: 2024-08-06T01:29:19.088Z

09References

• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/07/18/8
• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/07/26/12
• github.com — https://github.com/westes/flex/commit/a5cbe929ac3255d371e698f62dc256afe7006466
• www.debian.org — http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3653
• security.gentoo.org — https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-31