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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2016-9831 Libming CVE debrief

CVE-2016-9831 affects libming’s listswf tool and involves a heap-based buffer overflow in parseSWF_RGBA while handling crafted SWF content. NVD rates the issue 7.8 High with a CWE-119 memory-safety weakness. The practical risk is greatest anywhere untrusted SWF files are parsed or inspected, especially in workflows that process files from external sources.

Vendor
Libming
Product
CVE-2016-9831
CVSS
HIGH 7.8
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-02-17
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-02-17
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Teams that package, deploy, or depend on libming; maintainers of file-analysis, media-processing, or archive-inspection pipelines; security teams handling untrusted SWF content; and Linux/distribution administrators who may have inherited libming 0.4.7 or similar vulnerable builds.

Technical summary

The NVD record describes a heap-based buffer overflow in parseSWF_RGBA within parser.c in libming’s listswf tool. The vulnerability is reachable through a crafted SWF file and is mapped to CWE-119. The NVD CVSS 3.0 vector is AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating exploitation depends on user interaction in a file-processing context. The affected CPE range includes libming versions up to and including 0.4.7.

Defensive priority

High for environments that accept or inspect untrusted SWF files; otherwise medium, because exposure is often limited to specific tooling or conversion pipelines rather than always-on network services.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Identify whether libming is installed directly or bundled as a dependency in your environment.
  • Prioritize remediation for systems that process untrusted SWF files or run listswf-related workflows.
  • Upgrade to a non-vulnerable libming release or a vendor-patched package once available in your distribution or software channel.
  • Reduce exposure by restricting or removing SWF parsing from internet-facing and shared-file workflows.
  • Isolate file-analysis tooling in a sandboxed or least-privilege execution environment.
  • Review application and package inventories for libming 0.4.7 or earlier, and verify patched package builds rather than version strings alone.
  • Treat malicious or unknown SWF files as untrusted input and block them at ingestion points where feasible.

Evidence notes

This debrief is based on the NVD CVE record and the referenced advisories. The NVD entry lists the vulnerable CPE range as libming up to and including 0.4.7, the weakness as CWE-119, and the CVSS 3.0 vector as AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Referenced advisories include the Gentoo security note and oss-security posts dated 2016-12-01 and 2016-12-05. No KEV listing was provided in the source corpus.

Official resources

CVE published by NVD/CVE on 2017-02-17 and last modified on 2026-05-13. Advisory references in the source corpus date to 2016-12-01 and 2016-12-05. PatchSiren publication timing is not used as the CVE issue date.