How severe is CVE-2016-3643?

CVE-2016-3643 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2016-3643?

Affected package information for CVE-2016-3643 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2016-3643?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2016-3643 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2016-3643 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 4 known exploit references for CVE-2016-3643, including 1 documented proof-of-concept exploit on Exploit-DB and 3 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2016-3643?

CVE-2016-3643 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 5.2%, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

Is CVE-2016-3643 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2016-3643 (SolarWinds Virtualization Manager Privilege Escalation Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2021-11-03. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-05-03. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2016-3643?

CVE-2016-3643 is classified as CWE-264 (CWE-264). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2016-3643?

CVE-2016-3643 affects solarwinds virtualization manager. Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2016-3643 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2016-3643 was published on June 17, 2016 and was last updated on April 21, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CISA KEV·Added 2021-11-03 — agencies required to remediate by 2022-05-03

CVE-2016-3643

HIGH

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager 6.3.1 and earlier allow local users to gain privileges by leveraging a misconfiguration of sudo, as demonstrated by "sudo cat /etc/passwd."

Published

Jun 17, 2016

Updated

Apr 21, 2026

Affected

0 pkgs

Patched

None yet

Exploits

4 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

5.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk90th percentile0.00%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Description

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager 6.3.1 and earlier allow local users to gain privileges by leveraging a misconfiguration of sudo, as demonstrated by "sudo cat /etc/passwd."

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

virtualization managersolarwinds

≤ 6.3.1

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

EDB-39967locallinux

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager - Local Privilege Escalation

by Nate Kettlewell · Jun 16, 2016

Exploit-DB Source

Frequently Asked Questions

SolarWinds Virtualization Manager 6.3.1 and earlier allow local users to gain privileges by leveraging a misconfiguration of sudo, as demonstrated by "sudo cat /etc/passwd."

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2016-3643 in your stack?

O3 detects CVE-2016-3643 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

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