CVE-2016-10194: The festivaltts4r gem for Ruby allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters

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CRITICAL 9.8REMOTEMITIGATE

CVE-2016-10194 is a critical-severity flaw (CVSS 9.8) affecting festivaltts4r. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

The festivaltts4r gem for Ruby allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a string to the (1) to_speech or (2) to_mp3 method in lib/festivaltts4r/festival4r.rb.

Why this priority

Critical severity
Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

No fix is published yet: follow the downgrade or mitigation steps.

Risk facts

CVSS score	9.8 (Critical)
Attack vector	Network (remote)
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	None
User interaction	None
EPSS exploit chance	2.5% (top 15%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-77
Published	2017-03-03
Last modified	2026-06-17

Publisher (CNA): MITRE · Vendor: festivaltts4r project

Last updated 2026-06-17 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2017-03-03 15:59 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-17 00:39 UTCUpdated Record last modified

festivaltts4r project festivaltts4r MITIGATE

Affected: all versions

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: no unaffected older release

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy festivaltts4r || rpm -q festivaltts4r || festivaltts4r --version

No fixed or unaffected release known

Apply the vendor mitigation from the advisory, disable the affected feature, or restrict network access.

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2016-10194?

festivaltts4r: mitigate or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2016-10194 being exploited?

CVE-2016-10194 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2016-10194 affect?

CVE-2016-10194 affects festivaltts4r. Severity is critical (CVSS 9.8). The festivaltts4r gem for Ruby allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a string to the (1) to_speech or (2) to_mp3 method in lib/festivaltts4r/festival4r.rb.

How urgent is CVE-2016-10194?

Priority 61/100. Critical severity; Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

Software pages

Ruby vulnerabilities

References

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