What is the CVSS score of CVE-2014-9116?

CVE-2014-9116 has a CVSS 2.0 base score of 5.0 (Medium). CVSS vector: AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P. EPSS exploitation probability: 3.5%.

Is there a public PoC exploit available for CVE-2014-9116?

Yes, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2014-9116. Prioritise patching immediately. EPSS: 3.5%.

Mutt CVE-2014-9116

MEDIUM

Buffer Overflow (CWE-119)

2014-12-02 cve@mitre.org

Buffer Overflow Denial Of Service Debian Debian Linux Linux Enterprise Desktop Suse Mutt Suse Linux Enterprise Server Mageia

5.0

CVSS 2.0 · NVD

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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-119 ASVS 5.0 V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, buffer size validation MITRE ATT&CK 2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. Sign in to read
Impact	CVSS score of 5.0 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. EPSS exploitation probability: 3.52%.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	A remote attacker could corrupt memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application by sending crafted requests to the affected application.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).

No patch listed yet 3.5% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

The write_one_header function in mutt 1.5.23 does not properly handle newline characters at the beginning of a header, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a header. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Use memory-safe languages or bounds-checking. Enable ASLR, DEP/NX, stack canaries. Use safe string functions.

Affects your stack

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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Buffer Overflow (CWE-119), which allows attackers to corrupt memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application. The write_one_header function in mutt 1.5.23 does not properly handle newline characters at the beginning of a header, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a header with an empty body, which triggers a heap-based buffer overflow in the mutt_substrdup function. Affected products include: Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop, Suse Suse Linux Enterprise Server, Mutt, Debian Debian Linux, Mageia.

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Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 5.0 MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

DescriptionCVE.org

The write_one_header function in mutt 1.5.23 does not properly handle newline characters at the beginning of a header, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a header with an empty body, which triggers a heap-based buffer overflow in the mutt_substrdup function.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

3.5%

Top 12% exploitable

Exploit

POC

Public exploit code exists

Data Quality

3 sources

Confidence: Low

NVD

CVE.org

EPSS

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity MEDIUM

CISA KEV No

Public POC Yes

EPSS 3.5%

Patch available No

Active threat No

Deciding rule

MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Scheduled

Exploitation· derived

Poc

System Exposure· derived

Open

Automatable· derived

Human Impact· derived

Medium

Priority Score

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: +4

CVSS: +25

PoC: +20

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Buffer Overflow HIGH

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Denial of Service MEDIUM

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.