Vulnerability
curl/libcurl: IDNA 2003 makes curl use wrong host
When curl is built with libidn to handle International Domain Names (IDNA), it translates them to puny code for DNS resolving using the IDNA 2003 standard, while IDNA 2008 is the modern and up-to-date IDNA standard. This misalignment causes problems with for example domains using the German ß character (known as the Unicode Character `LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S`) which is used at times in the `.de` TLD and is translated differently in the two IDNA standards, leading to users potentially and unknowingly issuing network transfer requests to the wrong host. For example, `straße.de` is translated into `strasse.de` using IDNA 2003 but is translated into `xn--strae-oqa.de` using IDNA 2008. Needless to say, those hostnames could well resolve to different addresses and be two completely independent servers. IDNA 2008 is mandatory for `.de` domains. curl is not alone with this problem, as there is currently a big flux in the world of network user-agents about which IDNA version to support and use. This name problem exists for DNS-using protocols in curl, but only when built to use libidn.
No CVSS 3.x base score yet. Since April 2026 NVD only enriches priority CVEs (KEV, federal and critical software), so most CVEs are scored only if the assigning CNA included a score in the CVE record, or by GHSA for open-source packages. Last record update .
For interim severity, fall back on KEV / EXPLOIT signals and the EPSS percentile (lower panel). Re-check this CVE after one cron tick — the score lands automatically when the source publishes.
Mid-pack — moderate exploitation likelihood.
No VEX statements published for CVE-2016-8625. Vendors publish VEX (Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange) to assert per-product whether a CVE is actually exploitable in their distribution.
No exploitation, limited impact or prevalence