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PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2016-7164 Libtorrent CVE debrief

CVE-2016-7164 is a remote denial-of-service vulnerability in libtorrent 1.1.x. A crafted GZIP response from a torrent tracker can trigger a segmentation fault in puff.cpp’s construct function, causing the application to crash. The NVD rates the issue HIGH with a CVSS v3.0 vector of AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Vendor
Libtorrent
Product
Unknown
CVSS
HIGH 7.5
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-02-07
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-02-07
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Developers and operators using libtorrent 1.1.x, especially applications that connect to untrusted or external torrent trackers. Package maintainers, distro security teams, and anyone shipping libtorrent as an embedded dependency should also review exposure.

Technical summary

The provided NVD record describes a network-reachable denial of service affecting libtorrent 1.1.*. The failure is triggered by a crafted GZIP response handled by puff.cpp, leading to a segmentation fault and crash. NVD maps the issue to CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) and lists the attack vector as network-based with no privileges or user interaction required.

Defensive priority

High

Recommended defensive actions

  • Inventory all installations and embedded copies of libtorrent 1.1.x across servers, desktop software, appliances, and bundled dependencies.
  • Upgrade to a vendor or upstream release that includes the fix, or apply your distribution’s backported security update if available.
  • Treat tracker responses as untrusted input and minimize exposure to external trackers where operationally possible.
  • Rebuild and redeploy dependent packages after patching, including any applications that statically or vendored libtorrent.
  • Add regression testing and monitoring for crashes or segmentation faults in code paths that process compressed tracker responses.

Evidence notes

The debrief is based on the official CVE/NVD records supplied in the corpus. NVD lists the affected CPE scope as libtorrent 1.1.* and the weakness as CWE-20. The provided description states that a crafted GZIP response from remote torrent trackers can cause a segmentation fault and crash in puff.cpp’s construct function. The reference set also points to Openwall mailing-list posts and GitHub issue/PR entries related to patching and tracking.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2016-7164 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-7164

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2016-7164 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-7164

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.