Microsoft Edge HTTP/2 HEIST information disclosure

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
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CTI Interest Score
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4.4$5k-$25k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Edge. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component HTTP/2 Handler. The manipulation leads to information disclosure (HEIST). This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2016-7153. There is not any exploit available. This vulnerability is historically significant due to its background and the way it was received. The suggested workaround should be applied.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Edge (Web Browser) (version unknown) and classified as problematic. This issue affects an unknown function of the component HTTP/2 Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a information disclosure vulnerability (HEIST). Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-200. The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. Impacted is confidentiality. The summary by CVE is:

The HTTP/2 protocol does not consider the role of the TCP congestion window in providing information about content length, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain cleartext data by leveraging a web-browser configuration in which third-party cookies are sent, aka a "HEIST" attack.

The weakness was released 08/03/2016 by Mathy Vanhoef and Tom Van Goethem with iMinds-DistriNet as HEIST: HTTP Encrypted Information can be Stolen through TCP-windows as confirmed paper (Blackhat). The advisory is shared at blackhat.com. The public release happened without involvement of Microsoft. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2016-7153 since 09/06/2016. The exploitation is known to be difficult. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/08/2025). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1592 for this issue. Due to its background and reception, this vulnerability has a historic impact.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 261316 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2016-7153), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

The best possible mitigation is suggested to be Workaround.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (261316) and SecurityFocus (BID 92773†). arstechnica.com is providing further details. Entries connected to this vulnerability are available at VDB-91292, VDB-91293, VDB-91294 and VDB-91295. If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.4

VulDB Base Score: 3.7
VulDB Temp Score: 3.6
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.3
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Name: HEIST
Class: Information disclosure / HEIST
CWE: CWE-200 / CWE-284 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 261316
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2016-7153

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Workaround
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

08/03/2016 🔍
09/06/2016 +34 days 🔍
09/06/2016 +0 days 🔍
09/06/2016 +0 days 🔍
09/07/2016 +1 days 🔍
09/08/2025 +3288 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com

Advisory: HEIST: HTTP Encrypted Information can be Stolen through TCP-windows
Researcher: Mathy Vanhoef, Tom Van Goethem
Organization: iMinds-DistriNet
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2016-7153 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2016-7153
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-91301
SecurityFocus: 92773 - HTTP/2 CVE-2016-7153 Information Disclosure Vulnerability
SecurityTracker: 1036741

Misc.: 🔍
See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 09/07/2016 11:07
Updated: 09/08/2025 20:35
Changes: 09/07/2016 11:07 (50), 04/10/2019 21:34 (12), 09/15/2022 08:07 (3), 09/15/2022 08:12 (11), 09/08/2025 20:35 (16)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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