CVE-2016-6329
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain...
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTP-over-OpenVPN session using Blowfish in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
5.9
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTP-over-OpenVPN session using Blowfish in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
- Record
CVE-2016-6329- CVSS 3.0
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 4.3 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200, CWE-310
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTP-over-OpenVPN session using Blowfish in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
- Record
CVE-2016-6329- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2016-7256 No score
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTP-over-OpenVPN session using Blowfish in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
- Record
EUVD-2016-7256- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-w6pr-cm6j-f384
5.9
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain...
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTP-over-OpenVPN session using Blowfish in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
- Record
GHSA-w6pr-cm6j-f384- CVSS 3.0
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
5.9
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTP-over-OpenVPN session using Blowfish in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
- Record
CVE-2016-6329- CVSS 3.0
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2016-6329
5.9
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTP-over-OpenVPN session using Blowfish in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2016-6329- CVSS 3.0
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 5 moreShow less
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2016-6329
5.9
OpenVPN, when using a 64-bit block cipher, makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data via a birthday attack against a long-duration encrypted session, as demonstrated by an HTTP-over-OpenVPN session using Blowfish in CBC mode, aka a "Sweet32" attack.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2016-6329- CVSS 3.0
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2016-0304 No score
Updated openvpn packages fix security vulnerability
Ciphers with 64-bit block sizes used in CBC mode were found to be vulnerable to birthday attack when key renegotiation doesn't happen frequently or at all in long running connections. Blowfish cipher as used in OpenVPN by default is vulnerable to this attack, that allows remote attacker to recover partial plaintext information (XOR of two plaintext blocks) (CVE-2016-6329).
- Record
MGASA-2016-0304- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2017:1622-1 No score
Security update for openvpn
This update for openvpn fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2016-6329: Show which ciphers should no longer be used in openvpn --show-ciphers (bsc#995374)
- CVE-2017-7478: openvpn: Authenticated user can DoS server by using a big payload in P_CONTROL (bsc#1038709)
- CVE-2017-7479: openvpn: Denial of Service due to Exhaustion of Packet-ID counter (bsc#1038711)
- Hardening measures found by internal audit (bsc#1038713)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2017:1622-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2017:2838-1 No score
Security update for openvpn
This update for openvpn fixes the following security issues:
- CVE-2017-12166: OpenVPN was vulnerable to a buffer overflow vulnerability when key-method 1 is used, possibly resulting in code execution. (bsc#1060877).
- CVE-2016-6329: Now show which ciphers should no longer be used in openvpn --show-ciphers to avoid the SWEET32 attack (bsc#995374)
- CVE-2017-7478: OpenVPN was vulnerable to unauthenticated Denial of Service of server via received large control packet. (bsc#1038709)
- CVE-2017-7479: OpenVPN was vulnerable to reachable assertion when packet-ID counter rolls over resulting into Denial of Service of server by authenticated attacker. (bsc#1038711)
- Some other hardening fixes have also been applied (bsc#1038713)
- Record
SUSE-SU-2017:2838-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-3339-1 No score
openvpn vulnerabilities
Karthikeyan Bhargavan and Gaëtan Leurent discovered that 64-bit block ciphers are vulnerable to a birthday attack. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to recover cleartext data. Fixing this issue requires a configuration change to switch to a different cipher. This update adds a warning to the log file when a 64-bit block cipher is in use. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and Ubuntu 16.10. (CVE-2016-6329)
It was discovered that OpenVPN incorrectly handled rollover of packet ids. An authenticated remote attacker could use this issue to cause OpenVPN to crash, resulting in a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and Ubuntu 16.10. (CVE-2017-7479)
Guido Vranken discovered that OpenVPN incorrectly handled certain malformed IPv6 packets. A remote attacker could use this issue to cause OpenVPN to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2017-7508)
Guido Vranken discovered that OpenVPN incorrectly handled an HTTP proxy with NTLM authentication. A remote attacker could use this issue to cause OpenVPN clients to crash, resulting in a denial of service, or possibly expose sensitive memory contents. (CVE-2017-7520)
Guido Vranken discovered that OpenVPN incorrectly handled certain x509 extensions. A remote attacker could use this issue to cause OpenVPN to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2017-7521)
- Record
USN-3339-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
openvpnMageia:5 |
before 2.3.12-1.mga5 | 2.3.12-1.mga5 |
openvpnSUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2 |
before 2.3.8-16.14.1 | 2.3.8-16.14.1 |
openvpnSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for Raspberry Pi 12 SP2 |
before 2.3.8-16.14.1 | 2.3.8-16.14.1 |
openvpnSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2 |
before 2.3.8-16.14.1 | 2.3.8-16.14.1 |
openvpnSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP2 |
before 2.3.8-16.14.1 | 2.3.8-16.14.1 |
openvpnSUSE:Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 11 SP3 |
before 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 | 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 |
openvpnSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3-LTSS |
before 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 | 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 |
openvpnSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3-TERADATA |
before 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 | 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 |
openvpnSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 |
before 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 | 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 |
openvpnSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 11 SP4 |
before 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 | 2.0.9-143.47.3.1 |
openvpnUbuntu:14.04:LTS |
before 2.3.2-7ubuntu3.2, plus listed versions 2.3.2-4ubuntu12.3.2-5ubuntu12.3.2-7ubuntu12.3.2-7ubuntu22.3.2-7ubuntu32.3.2-7ubuntu3.1 |
2.3.2-7ubuntu3.2 |
openvpnUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
before 2.3.10-1ubuntu2.1, plus listed versions 2.3.7-1ubuntu12.3.7-2ubuntu12.3.8-1ubuntu12.3.10-1ubuntu12.3.10-1ubuntu2 |
2.3.10-1ubuntu2.1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2016-6329 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.9) in Openvpn, published September 16, 2016. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 5.94%, the 93rd percentile. Fixed in openvpn 2.3.12-1.mga5.
References
sweet32.info
h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05369403
securitytracker.com/id/1036695
www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21995039
www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21991482
security.gentoo.org/glsa/201611-02
Show 29 moreShow less
community.openvpn.net/openvpn/wiki/SWEET32
www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1021697
securityfocus.com/bid/92631
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-556833.pdf
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-6329
github.com/advisories/GHSA-w6pr-cm6j-f384
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-6329
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2016-0304.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=19251
community.openvpn.net/openvpn/wiki/ChangesInOpenvpn23
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/IIPSFOGSRZ5PCY7HRYCDJADE4DTIBMML
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2017/suse-su-20171622-1
bugzilla.suse.com/1038709
bugzilla.suse.com/1038711
bugzilla.suse.com/1038713
bugzilla.suse.com/995374
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-6329
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-7478
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-7479
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2017/suse-su-20172838-1
bugzilla.suse.com/1060877
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-12166
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-6329
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-3339-1
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-6329
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-7479
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-7508
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-7520
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-7521