Is CVE-2016-5713 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2016-5713 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2016-5713 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2016-5713 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-5713?

CVE-2016-5713 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).

HOME VULNERABILITIESCVE-2016-5713

CRITICAL

CVE-2016-5713

CWE-94Published: December 6, 2017· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

9.8

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

Versions of Puppet Agent prior to 1.6.0 included a version of the Puppet Execution Protocol (PXP) agent that passed environment variables through to Puppet runs. This could allow unauthorized code to be loaded. This bug was first introduced in Puppet Agent 1.3.0.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2016-5713 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 9.8.