---
title: "CVE-2016-7966\n    | Ubuntu"
description: Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the
  desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.
url: https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-7966?format=md
keywords: index, follow
---

# CVE-2016-7966

Publication date 5 October 2016

Last updated 25 August 2025

---

Ubuntu priority

**Medium**

[Why this priority?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#priority )

## Cvss 3 Severity Score

**7.3 · High**

[Score breakdown](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-7966?format=md#impact-score)

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## Description

Through a malicious URL that contained a quote character it was possible to
inject HTML code in KMail's plaintext viewer. Due to the parser used on the
URL it was not possible to include the equal sign (=) or a space into the
injected HTML, which greatly reduces the available HTML functionality.
Although it is possible to include an HTML comment indicator to hide
content.

[Read the notes from the security team](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-7966?format=md#notes)

## Status

Show unmaintained releases

| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| kcoreaddons | 17.04 zesty | Fixed 5.26.0-0ubuntu2 |
| 16.10 yakkety | Fixed 5.26.0-0ubuntu2 |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Fixed 5.18.0-0ubuntu1.1 |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| kdepim | 17.04 zesty | Not affected |
| 16.10 yakkety | Not affected |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not affected |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not affected |
| kdepimlibs | 17.04 zesty | Not affected |
| 16.10 yakkety | Not affected |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Fixed 4:4.13.3-0ubuntu0.4 |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Fixed 4:4.8.5-0ubuntu0.3 |
| kf5-messagelib | 17.04 zesty | Not affected |
| 16.10 yakkety | Ignored end of life |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |

---

* [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)
* [What do statuses mean?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#statuses)
* [Patch details](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-7966?format=md#patch-details)

## Notes

---

### [mdeslaur](https://launchpad.net/~mdeslaur)

per ScottK: Affected package is kdepimlibs in 12.04 - 15.04 and
it looks like both kcoreaddons and messagecomposer in later
releases

---

### [tsimonq2](https://launchpad.net/~tsimonq2)

An additional part to this was released, therefore we need
additional commits on top of the initial fix.

### Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)

| Package | Patch details |
| --- | --- |
| kcoreaddons | * Upstream:   [?id=96e](https://cgit.kde.org/kcoreaddons.git/commit/?id=96e562d9138c100498da38e4c5b4091a226dde12) * Upstream:   [?id=1be](https://cgit.kde.org/kcoreaddons.git/commit/?id=1be7272373d60e4234f1a5584e676b579302b053) * Upstream:   [?id=5e1](https://cgit.kde.org/kcoreaddons.git/commit/?id=5e13d2439dbf540fdc840f0b0ab5b3ebf6642c6a) * Upstream:   [?id=a06](https://cgit.kde.org/kcoreaddons.git/commit/?id=a06cef31cc4c908bc9b76bd9d103fe9c60e0953f) |
| kdepimlibs | * Upstream:   [?id=176](https://cgit.kde.org/kdepimlibs.git/commit/?id=176fee25ca79145ab5c8e2275d248f1a46a8d8cf) * Upstream:   [?id=8bb](https://cgit.kde.org/kdepimlibs.git/commit/?id=8bbe1bd3fdc55f609340edc667ff154b3d2aaab1) |

## Severity score breakdown

CVSS version:
CVSS v3.0

**Base score**

7.3 · High

* Base metrics

  | Parameter | Value |
  | --- | --- |
  | Attack vector | Network |
  | Attack complexity | Low |
  | Privileges required | None |
  | User interaction | None |
  | Scope | Unchanged |
  | Confidentiality impact | Low |
  | Integrity impact | Low |
  | Availability impact | Low |
* Scores

  | Parameter | Value |
  | --- | --- |
  | Base score | 7.3 · High |
  | Exploitability score | - |
  | Impact score | - |

**Vector:** CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

## References

* [MITRE](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2016-7966)
* [NVD](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-7966)
* [Launchpad](https://launchpad.net/bugs/cve/CVE-2016-7966)
* [Debian](https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-7966)

### Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

+ [USN-3100-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-3100-1)
+ KDE-PIM Libraries vulnerability
+ 12 October 2016

### Other references

* <http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/05/1>
* <https://www.kde.org/info/security/advisory-20161006-1.txt>
* <https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-7966>