CVE-2016-9814
CRITICALCVE-2016-9814 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.1) CWE-399 vulnerability in simplesamlphp/saml2. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2016-9814 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
SimpleSAMLphp SAML2 spoof SAML responses
Real-World Exposure
simplesamlphp/saml2🐘simplesamlphp/saml2🐘simplesamlphp/saml2🐘simplesamlphp/saml2Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The validateSignature method in the SAML2\Utils class in SimpleSAMLphp before 1.14.10 and simplesamlphp/saml2 library before 1.9.1, 1.10.x before 1.10.3, and 2.x before 2.3.3 allows remote attackers to spoof SAML responses or possibly cause a denial of service (memory consumption) by leveraging improper conversion of return values to boolean.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | simplesamlphp/saml2 | ≥ 1.10&&< 1.10.3 | 1.10.3 |
| 🐘Packagist | simplesamlphp/saml2 | all versions | 1.8.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | simplesamlphp/saml2 | ≥ 1.9.0&&< 1.9.1 | 1.9.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | simplesamlphp/saml2 | ≥ 2.0&&< 2.3.3 | 2.3.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for simplesamlphp/saml2. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update simplesamlphp/saml2 to 1.10.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-9814 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2016-9814 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2016-9814. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2016-9814 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2016-9814 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.