How severe is CVE-2016-20009?

CVE-2016-20009 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2016-20009 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (77th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2016-20009?

CVE-2016-20009 primarily affects Windriver Vxworks. In total, 8 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2016-20009?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2016-20009 published?

CVE-2016-20009 was published on 2021-03-11 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2016-20009

CVE-2016-20009 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Windriver Vxworks with a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-787.

Key facts

Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 9.8)
CVSS v2: 7.5
EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (77th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-787
Affected product: Windriver Vxworks
Published: 2021-03-11
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

A DNS client stack-based buffer overflow in ipdnsc_decode_name() affects Wind River VxWorks 6.5 through 7. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-20009?: A DNS client stack-based buffer overflow in ipdnsc_decode_name() affects Wind River VxWorks 6.5 through 7. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer
How severe is CVE-2016-20009?: CVE-2016-20009 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2016-20009 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (77th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2016-20009?: CVE-2016-20009 primarily affects Windriver Vxworks. In total, 8 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2016-20009?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2016-20009 published?: CVE-2016-20009 was published on 2021-03-11 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (8)

cpe:2.3:o:windriver:vxworks:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:siemens:sgt-100_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:siemens:sgt-200_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:siemens:sgt-300_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:siemens:sgt-400_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:siemens:sgt-a20_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:siemens:sgt-a35_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:siemens:sgt-a65_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Windriver Vxworks

CVE-2013-0714 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): IPSSH (aka the SSH server) in Wind River VxWorks 6.5 through 6.9 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or…
CVE-2020-35198 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An issue was discovered in Wind River VxWorks 7. The memory allocator has a possible integer overflow in calculating a…
CVE-2021-29999 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An issue was discovered in Wind River VxWorks through 6.8. There is a possible stack overflow in dhcp server.
CVE-2021-29998 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An issue was discovered in Wind River VxWorks before 6.5. There is a possible heap overflow in dhcp client.
CVE-2019-12262 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Wind River VxWorks 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9 and 7 has Incorrect Access Control in the RARP client component. IPNET security…
CVE-2019-12261 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Wind River VxWorks 6.7 though 6.9 and vx7 has a Buffer Overflow in the TCP component (issue 3 of 4). This is an IPNET…

All CVEs affecting Windriver Vxworks →

Other CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-42369 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): GV-VMS V20 is a Video Monitoring Software used to gather the feeds of many surveillance cameras and manage other…
CVE-2026-4746 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability in timeplus-io proton (base/poco/Foundation/src‎ modules). This vulnerability is…
CVE-2025-43300 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved bounds checking. This issue is fixed in iOS 15.8.5 and iPadOS…
CVE-2025-24201 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): An out-of-bounds write issue was addressed with improved checks to prevent unauthorized actions. This issue is fixed in…
CVE-2024-42479 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): llama.cpp provides LLM inference in C/C++. The unsafe `data` pointer member in the `rpc_tensor` structure can cause…
CVE-2024-39791 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities affecting Vonets industrial wifi bridge relays and wifi bridge…

Browse all CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) vulnerabilities →