CVE-2016-4264 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2016-4264
Vulnerability Scoring

8.6
/10
Severe Risk

Cybersecurity professionals consider CVE-2016-4264 an immediate threat requiring urgent mitigation.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Changed
    Successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2016-4264 Details

Status: Deferred

Last updated: 🕥 12 Apr 2025, 10:46 UTC
Originally published on: 🕦 01 Sep 2016, 23:59 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 3144 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

nvd@nist.gov

CVSS3 Type

Primary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVE-2016-4264 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2016-4264: The Office Open XML (OOXML) feature in Adobe ColdFusion 10 before Update 21 and 11 before Update 10 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files or send TCP requests to intranet servers via a crafted OOXML spreadsheet containing an external entity declaration in conjunction with an entity reference, related to an XML External Entity (XXE) issue.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2016-4264

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2016-4264 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2016-4264

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2016-4264 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2016-4264, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2016-4264, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2016-4264 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: None
    CVE-2016-4264 poses no threat to data integrity.
  • Availability: None
    CVE-2016-4264 does not impact system availability.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 17.401% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 96.19% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 3.8100000000000023% of others.

CVE-2016-4264 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-611

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Data Serialization External Entities Blowup CAPEC-221 This attack takes advantage of the entity replacement property of certain data serialization languages (e.g., XML, YAML, etc.) where the value of the replacement is a URI. A well-crafted file could have the entity refer to a URI that consumes a large amount of resources to create a denial of service condition. This can cause the system to either freeze, crash, or execute arbitrary code depending on the URI.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:7.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:7.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:7.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:7.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:7.2:unknown:mx:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:7.2:unknown:mx:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:8.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:8.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:9.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:9.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:9.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:9.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update1:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update10:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update10:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update11:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update11:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update12:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update12:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update13:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update13:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update14:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update14:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update15:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update15:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update16:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update16:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update17:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update17:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update18:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update18:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update19:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update19:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update2:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update2:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update20:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update20:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update21:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update21:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update22:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update22:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update23:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update23:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update3:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update3:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update4:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update4:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update5:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update5:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update6:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update6:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update7:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update7:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update8:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update8:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update9:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:10.0:update9:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:11.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:adobe:coldfusion:11.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*

Protect Your Infrastructure against CVE-2016-4264: Combat Critical CVE Threats

Stay updated with real-time CVE vulnerabilities and take action to secure your systems. Enhance your cybersecurity posture with the latest threat intelligence and mitigation techniques. Develop the skills necessary to defend against CVEs and secure critical infrastructures. Join the top cybersecurity professionals safeguarding today's infrastructures.

Other 5 Recently Published CVEs Vulnerabilities

  • CVE-2025-3809 – The Debug Log Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the auto-refresh debug log in all versions up to, and i...
  • CVE-2025-2111 – The Insert Headers And Footers plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 3.1.1. This i...
  • CVE-2024-13926 – The WP-Syntax WordPress plugin through 1.2 does not properly handle input, allowing an attacker to create a post containing a large number of tags,...
  • CVE-2025-3103 – The CLEVER - HTML5 Radio Player With History - Shoutcast and Icecast - Elementor Widget Addon plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file ...
  • CVE-2025-3275 – The Themesflat Addons For Elementor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the TF E Slider widget in all versions up...