CVE-2016-3861
LibUtils in Android 4.x before 4.4.4, 5.0.x before 5.0.2, 5.1.x before 5.1.1, 6.x before 2016-09-01, and 7.0 before 2016-09-01 mishandles conversions between Unicode character encodings with different encoding widths, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (heap-based buffer overflow) via a crafted file, aka internal bug 29250543.
CVSS
- Base score
- 7.8
- Version
- 3.0
- Vector
- CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploitation probability (EPSS)
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
- 8.29 %
- Percentile among all scored CVEs
- 95
- Score date
- 10/20/2026
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
Public exploits
Exploit code or detection templates are publicly available. This is not the same as confirmed active exploitation (KEV), but it raises the risk: patch with priority.
- Published on Exploit-DB · Google Android - libutils UTF16 to UTF8 Conversion Heap Buffer Overflow (9/8/2016)
- Proof of concept on GitHub (unverified) · List of proofs of concept on GitHub
⚠️ GitHub proofs of concept are not verified: some are fake or contain malware. Never run them outside an isolated lab.
Affected technologies (1)
CWEs
- CWE-119, CWE-264
References
Show 16 references
- http://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2016-09-01.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/92811
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036763
- https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/av/+/3944c65637dfed14a5a895685edfa4bacaf9f76e
- https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/866dc26ad4a98cc835d075b627326e7d7e52ffa1
- https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/native/+/1f4b49e64adf4623eefda503bca61e253597b9bf
- https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/ecf5fd58a8f50362ce9e8d4245a33d56f29f142b
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40354/
- http://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2016-09-01.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/92811
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036763
- https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/av/+/3944c65637dfed14a5a895685edfa4bacaf9f76e
- https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/866dc26ad4a98cc835d075b627326e7d7e52ffa1
- https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/native/+/1f4b49e64adf4623eefda503bca61e253597b9bf
- https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/ecf5fd58a8f50362ce9e8d4245a33d56f29f142b
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40354/
Raw JSON (NVD)
Show
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