Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- EPSS is 5.96% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2016
CVE-2016-5423High confidence
Affected product: NULL Pointer Dereference
Unknown · Unknown
8.3HighCVSS 3.0
Within 7 days
Patch availableHigh technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:High, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Compensating controls
- Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
- Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Unknown Unknown and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Patch available01
What, why and how
PostgreSQL before 9.1.23, 9.2.x before 9.2.18, 9.3.x before 9.3.14, 9.4.x before 9.4.9, and 9.5.x before 9.5.4 allow remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and server crash), obtain sensitive memory information, or possibly execute arbitrary code via (1) a CASE expression within the test value subexpression of another CASE or (2) inlining of an SQL function that implements the equality operator used for a CASE expression involving values of different types.
What
PostgreSQL before 9.1.23, 9.2.x before 9.2.18, 9.3.x before 9.3.14, 9.4.x before 9.4.9, and 9.5.x before 9.5.4 allow remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and server crash), obtain sensitive memory information, or possibly execute arbitrary code via (1) a CASE expression within the test value subexpression of another CASE or (2) inlining of an SQL function that implements the equality operator used for a CASE expression involving values of different types.
Why
The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
What
PostgreSQL before 9.1.23, 9.2.x before 9.2.18, 9.3.x before 9.3.14, 9.4.x before 9.4.9, and 9.5.x before 9.5.4 allow remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and server crash), obtain sensitive memory information, or possibly execute arbitrary code via (1) a CASE expression within the test value subexpression of another CASE or (2) inlining of an SQL function that implements the equality operator used for a CASE expression involving values of different types.
Why
The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- a network path → NULL Pointer Dereference → execute code or commands in the affected security context
- Attack surface
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low: a basic authenticated account is required
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-476 ↗
CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference. The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.0: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CLowConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- After compromise, an attacker may use built-in shells, scripting engines, scheduled tasks and native network utilities for discovery, persistence or movement. This is a plausible LoTL path, not evidence that it has occurred for every attack.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Patch available
- Affected
- n/a
- Action
- Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 9 Dec 2016 · Last source change 6 Aug 2024, 01:00 UTC · CWE-476 · NULL Pointer Dereference
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-01
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2016-6368
Product sourceUnavailable
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceNIST NVD
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Missing structured fields: affected product. Missing data is not evidence of low risk; review the primary advisory.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2016-6368 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- {"euvdId":"EUVD-2016-6368"}
- Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added patch: postgresql.org/1688; added remediation: postgresql.org/1688; removed vendor advisory: access.redhat.com/RHSA-2017:2425; removed vendor advisory: debian.org/dsa-3646; 5 further additions; 5 further removals.postgresql.org ↗
- Before
- vendor advisory: access.redhat.com/RHSA-2017:2425 · vendor advisory: debian.org/dsa-3646 · vendor advisory: rhn.redhat.com/RHSA-2016-1781.html · 4 more references
- After
- patch: postgresql.org/1688 · remediation: postgresql.org/1688 · vendor advisory: postgresql.org/release-9-1-23.html · 4 more references
- Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.CNA ↗
- Before
- n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- After
- n/a · Fixed: An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
- Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Patch available.postgresql.org ↗
- Before
- Awaiting fix
- After
- Patch available
- SeveritySeverity changed from Unknown to High.NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- Unknown
- After
- High
- CVSS scoreCVSS score changed from not recorded to 8.3 (CVSS 3.0 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H).NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- 8.3 (CVSS 3.0 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H)
- Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.CNA ↗
CVE published
Fixed release or patch reference recorded
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.