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CVE-2016-2516

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to...

5.3 MediumFix available

CVE-2016-2516 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Ntp, published April 29, 2016. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 8.95%, the 95th percentile. Fixed in ntp 1:4.2.8p7+dfsg-1.

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (ntpd abort) by using the same IP address multiple times in an unconfig directive.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

8.95%Up 7.3 points since Feb 4, 2022
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 5.3

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (ntpd abort) by using the same IP address multiple times in an unconfig directive.

Record
CVE-2016-2516
CVSS 3.0
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.0
7.1 HighAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
Weakness
CWE-20
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (ntpd abort) by using the same IP address multiple times in an unconfig directive.

Record
CVE-2016-2516
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2016-3594 No score

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (ntpd abort) by using the same IP address multiple times in an unconfig directive.

Record
EUVD-2016-3594
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-r7jh-6376-3vr2 5.3

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to...

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (ntpd abort) by using the same IP address multiple times in an unconfig directive.

Record
GHSA-r7jh-6376-3vr2
CVSS 3.0
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-20
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 5.3

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (ntpd abort) by using the same IP address multiple times in an unconfig directive.

Record
CVE-2016-2516
CVSS 3.0
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2016-2516 5.3

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (ntpd abort) by using the same IP address multiple times in an unconfig directive.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2016-2516
CVSS 3.0
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 8 moreShow less
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2016-2516 5.3

NTP before 4.2.8p7 and 4.3.x before 4.3.92, when mode7 is enabled, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (ntpd abort) by using the same IP address multiple times in an unconfig directive.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2016-2516
CVSS 3.0
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2016-0174 No score

Updated ntp packages fix security vulnerabilities

Updated ntp packages fix security vulnerabilities:

It is possible to change the time of an ntpd client or deny service to an ntpd client by forcing it to change from basic client/server mode to interleaved symmetric mode. An attacker can spoof a packet from a legitimate ntpd server with an origin timestamp that matches the peer->dst timestamp recorded for that server. After making this switch, the client will reject all future legitimate server responses. It is possible to force the victim client to move time after the mode has been changed. ntpq gives no indication that the mode has been switched (CVE-2016-1548).

An exploitable vulnerability exists in the message authentication functionality of Network Time Protocol libntp. An attacker can send a series of crafted messages to attempt to recover the message digest key (CVE-2016-1550).

If ntpd was expressly configured to allow for remote configuration, a malicious user who knows the controlkey for ntpq or the requestkey for ntpdc (if mode7 is expressly enabled) can create a session with ntpd and if an existing association is unconfigured using the same IP twice on the unconfig directive line, ntpd will abort (CVE-2016-2516).

Using a crafted packet to create a peer association with hmode > 7 causes the MATCH_ASSOC() lookup to make an out-of-bounds reference (CVE-2016-2518).

Note that CVE-2016-2516, as well as other known but unfixed vulnerabilities in ntpd, are also mitigated by not allowing remote configuration, which is the default in Mageia.

Record
MGASA-2016-0174
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:10181-1 No score

ntp-4.2.8p9-1.1 on GA media

These are all security issues fixed in the ntp-4.2.8p9-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:10181-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2016:1278-1 No score

Security update for ntp

This update for ntp to 4.2.8p7 fixes the following issues:

  • CVE-2016-1547, bsc#977459: Validate crypto-NAKs, AKA: CRYPTO-NAK DoS.
  • CVE-2016-1548, bsc#977461: Interleave-pivot
  • CVE-2016-1549, bsc#977451: Sybil vulnerability: ephemeral association attack.
  • CVE-2016-1550, bsc#977464: Improve NTP security against buffer comparison timing attacks.
  • CVE-2016-1551, bsc#977450: Refclock impersonation vulnerability
  • CVE-2016-2516, bsc#977452: Duplicate IPs on unconfig directives will cause an assertion botch in ntpd.
  • CVE-2016-2517, bsc#977455: remote configuration trustedkey/ requestkey/controlkey values are not properly validated.
  • CVE-2016-2518, bsc#977457: Crafted addpeer with hmode > 7 causes array wraparound with MATCH_ASSOC.
  • CVE-2016-2519, bsc#977458: ctl_getitem() return value not always checked.
  • This update also improves the fixes for: CVE-2015-7704, CVE-2015-7705, CVE-2015-7974

Bugs fixed:

  • Restrict the parser in the startup script to the first occurrance of 'keys' and 'controlkey' in ntp.conf (bsc#957226).
Record
SUSE-SU-2016:1278-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2016:1291-1 No score

Security update for ntp

This update for ntp to 4.2.8p7 fixes the following issues:

  • CVE-2016-1547, bsc#977459: Validate crypto-NAKs, AKA: CRYPTO-NAK DoS.
  • CVE-2016-1548, bsc#977461: Interleave-pivot
  • CVE-2016-1549, bsc#977451: Sybil vulnerability: ephemeral association attack.
  • CVE-2016-1550, bsc#977464: Improve NTP security against buffer comparison timing attacks.
  • CVE-2016-1551, bsc#977450: Refclock impersonation vulnerability
  • CVE-2016-2516, bsc#977452: Duplicate IPs on unconfig directives will cause an assertion botch in ntpd.
  • CVE-2016-2517, bsc#977455: remote configuration trustedkey/ requestkey/controlkey values are not properly validated.
  • CVE-2016-2518, bsc#977457: Crafted addpeer with hmode > 7 causes array wraparound with MATCH_ASSOC.
  • CVE-2016-2519, bsc#977458: ctl_getitem() return value not always checked.
  • This update also improves the fixes for: CVE-2015-7704, CVE-2015-7705, CVE-2015-7974

Bugs fixed:

  • Restrict the parser in the startup script to the first occurrance of 'keys' and 'controlkey' in ntp.conf (bsc#957226).
Record
SUSE-SU-2016:1291-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2016:1471-1 No score

Security update for ntp

This update for ntp fixes the following issues:

  • Separate the creation of ntp.keys and key #1 in it to avoid problems when upgrading installations that have the file, but no key #1, which is needed e.g. by 'rcntp addserver'.

  • Update to 4.2.8p7 (bsc#977446):

    • CVE-2016-1547, bsc#977459: Validate crypto-NAKs, AKA: CRYPTO-NAK DoS.
    • CVE-2016-1548, bsc#977461: Interleave-pivot
    • CVE-2016-1549, bsc#977451: Sybil vulnerability: ephemeral association attack.
    • CVE-2016-1550, bsc#977464: Improve NTP security against buffer comparison timing attacks.
    • CVE-2016-1551, bsc#977450: Refclock impersonation vulnerability
    • CVE-2016-2516, bsc#977452: Duplicate IPs on unconfig directives will cause an assertion botch in ntpd.
    • CVE-2016-2517, bsc#977455: remote configuration trustedkey/ requestkey/controlkey values are not properly validated.
    • CVE-2016-2518, bsc#977457: Crafted addpeer with hmode > 7 causes array wraparound with MATCH_ASSOC.
    • CVE-2016-2519, bsc#977458: ctl_getitem() return value not always checked.
    • integrate ntp-fork.patch
    • Improve the fixes for: CVE-2015-7704, CVE-2015-7705, CVE-2015-7974
  • Restrict the parser in the startup script to the first occurrance of 'keys' and 'controlkey' in ntp.conf (bsc#957226).

Record
SUSE-SU-2016:1471-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2016:1568-1 No score

Security update for ntp

ntp was updated to version 4.2.8p8 to fix 17 security issues.

These security issues were fixed:

  • CVE-2016-4956: Broadcast interleave (bsc#982068).
  • CVE-2016-2518: Crafted addpeer with hmode > 7 causes array wraparound with MATCH_ASSOC (bsc#977457).
  • CVE-2016-2519: ctl_getitem() return value not always checked (bsc#977458).
  • CVE-2016-4954: Processing spoofed server packets (bsc#982066).
  • CVE-2016-4955: Autokey association reset (bsc#982067).
  • CVE-2015-7974: NTP did not verify peer associations of symmetric keys when authenticating packets, which might allowed remote attackers to conduct impersonation attacks via an arbitrary trusted key, aka a 'skeleton key (bsc#962960).
  • CVE-2016-4957: CRYPTO_NAK crash (bsc#982064).
  • CVE-2016-2516: Duplicate IPs on unconfig directives will cause an assertion botch (bsc#977452).
  • CVE-2016-2517: Remote configuration trustedkey/requestkey values are not properly validated (bsc#977455).
  • CVE-2016-4953: Bad authentication demobilizes ephemeral associations (bsc#982065).
  • CVE-2016-1547: CRYPTO-NAK DoS (bsc#977459).
  • CVE-2016-1551: Refclock impersonation vulnerability, AKA: refclock-peering (bsc#977450).
  • CVE-2016-1550: Improve NTP security against buffer comparison timing attacks, authdecrypt-timing, AKA: authdecrypt-timing (bsc#977464).
  • CVE-2016-1548: Interleave-pivot - MITIGATION ONLY (bsc#977461).
  • CVE-2016-1549: Sybil vulnerability: ephemeral association attack, AKA: ntp-sybil - MITIGATION ONLY (bsc#977451).

This release also contained improved patches for CVE-2015-7704, CVE-2015-7705, CVE-2015-7974.

These non-security issues were fixed:

  • bsc#979302: Change the process name of the forking DNS worker process to avoid the impression that ntpd is started twice.
  • bsc#981422: Don't ignore SIGCHILD because it breaks wait().
  • bsc#979981: ntp-wait does not accept fractional seconds, so use 1 instead of 0.2 in ntp-wait.service.
  • Separate the creation of ntp.keys and key #1 in it to avoid problems when upgrading installations that have the file, but no key #1, which is needed e.g. by 'rcntp addserver'.
  • bsc#957226: Restrict the parser in the startup script to the first occurrance of 'keys' and 'controlkey' in ntp.conf.
Record
SUSE-SU-2016:1568-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUSN-3096-1 No score

ntp vulnerabilities

Aanchal Malhotra discovered that NTP incorrectly handled authenticated broadcast mode. A remote attacker could use this issue to perform a replay attack. (CVE-2015-7973)

Matt Street discovered that NTP incorrectly verified peer associations of symmetric keys. A remote attacker could use this issue to perform an impersonation attack. (CVE-2015-7974)

Jonathan Gardner discovered that the NTP ntpq utility incorrectly handled memory. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause ntpq to crash, resulting in a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. (CVE-2015-7975)

Jonathan Gardner discovered that the NTP ntpq utility incorrectly handled dangerous characters in filenames. An attacker could possibly use this issue to overwrite arbitrary files. (CVE-2015-7976)

Stephen Gray discovered that NTP incorrectly handled large restrict lists. An attacker could use this issue to cause NTP to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2015-7977, CVE-2015-7978)

Aanchal Malhotra discovered that NTP incorrectly handled authenticated broadcast mode. A remote attacker could use this issue to cause NTP to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2015-7979)

Jonathan Gardner discovered that NTP incorrectly handled origin timestamp checks. A remote attacker could use this issue to spoof peer servers. (CVE-2015-8138)

Jonathan Gardner discovered that the NTP ntpq utility did not properly handle certain incorrect values. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause ntpq to hang, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2015-8158)

It was discovered that the NTP cronjob incorrectly cleaned up the statistics directory. A local attacker could possibly use this to escalate privileges. (CVE-2016-0727)

Stephen Gray and Matthew Van Gundy discovered that NTP incorrectly validated crypto-NAKs. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to prevent clients from synchronizing. (CVE-2016-1547)

Miroslav Lichvar and Jonathan Gardner discovered that NTP incorrectly handled switching to interleaved symmetric mode. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to prevent clients from synchronizing. (CVE-2016-1548)

Matthew Van Gundy, Stephen Gray and Loganaden Velvindron discovered that NTP incorrectly handled message authentication. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to recover the message digest key. (CVE-2016-1550)

Yihan Lian discovered that NTP incorrectly handled duplicate IPs on unconfig directives. An authenticated remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause NTP to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2016-2516)

Yihan Lian discovered that NTP incorrectly handled certail peer associations. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause NTP to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2016-2518)

Jakub Prokes discovered that NTP incorrectly handled certain spoofed packets. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2016-4954)

Miroslav Lichvar discovered that NTP incorrectly handled certain packets when autokey is enabled. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2016-4955)

Miroslav Lichvar discovered that NTP incorrectly handled certain spoofed broadcast packets. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2016-4956)

In the default installation, attackers would be isolated by the NTP AppArmor profile.

Record
USN-3096-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
ntp
Debian:11
before 1:4.2.8p7+dfsg-1
1:4.2.8p7+dfsg-1
ntp
Debian:7
before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-2+deb7u7, plus listed versions
1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-21:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-2+deb7u11:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-2+deb7u21:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-2+deb7u31:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-2+deb7u41:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-2+deb7u51:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-2+deb7u6
1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-2+deb7u7
ntp
Debian:8
before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-7+deb8u2, plus listed versions
1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-71:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-7+deb8u1
1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-7+deb8u2
ntp
Mageia:5
before 4.2.6p5-24.5.mga5
4.2.6p5-24.5.mga5
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4
before 4.2.8p7-11.1
4.2.8p7-11.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 SP4
before 4.2.8p7-11.1
4.2.8p7-11.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1
before 4.2.8p7-11.1
4.2.8p7-11.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP1
before 4.2.8p7-11.1
4.2.8p7-11.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP1
before 4.2.8p7-11.1
4.2.8p7-11.1
ntp
SUSE:OpenStack Cloud 5
before 4.2.8p7-44.1
4.2.8p7-44.1
Show 11 moreShow less
Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
ntp
SUSE:Manager 2.1
before 4.2.8p7-44.1
4.2.8p7-44.1
ntp
SUSE:Manager Proxy 2.1
before 4.2.8p7-44.1
4.2.8p7-44.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2-LTSS
before 4.2.8p7-44.1
4.2.8p7-44.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3-LTSS
before 4.2.8p7-44.1
4.2.8p7-44.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3-TERADATA
before 4.2.8p7-44.1
4.2.8p7-44.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12
before 4.2.8p8-46.8.1
4.2.8p8-46.8.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12
before 4.2.8p8-46.8.1
4.2.8p8-46.8.1
ntp
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12
before 4.2.8p8-46.8.1
4.2.8p8-46.8.1
ntp
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS
before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10, plus listed versions
1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu21:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.11:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.21:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.31:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.51:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.61:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.71:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.8
1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10
ntp
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3, plus listed versions
1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu81:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu8.11:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu91:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu11:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu2
Show 5 moreShow less
1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu31:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu41:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu51:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.11:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.2
1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3
ntp
openSUSE:Tumbleweed
before 4.2.8p9-1.1
4.2.8p9-1.1

History

History
WhenChangedSources
2026-11-03aliasesEUVD
2026-11-02createdCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

References

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