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Enterprise LinuxOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2016-2150

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-06-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
SPICE allows local guest OS users to read from or write to arbitrary host memory locations via crafted primary surface parameters, a similar issue to CVE-2015-5261.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

SPICE (Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environments) contains a memory access vulnerability where local guest OS users can read from or write to arbitrary host memory locations through crafted primary surface parameters. This is caused by insufficient validation of surface parameters passed from the guest to the SPICE server, allowing an attacker in the guest to manipulate memory pointers on the host. It is a similar issue to CVE-2015-5261.

MitigationUpdate SPICE to the latest patched version that addresses proper validation of primary surface parameters. If patching is not immediately feasible, restrict local untrusted users from accessing the guest OS or consider disabling SPICE for untrusted guest environments.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 6.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 6.0
Enterprise Linux Hpc Node EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.2
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 6.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.2
Enterprise Linux Server EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.2
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 7.0= 6.0
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if SPICE server components are installed
    Check for the spice-server package using your package manager. On RHEL/CentOS: rpm -qa | grep spice. On Debian: dpkg -l | grep spice.
    Affected if The spice-server package is present on the system (indicating SPICE is available for virtual machine display).
  2. Determine the installed SPICE server version
    Run: rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE} ' spice-server (RHEL) or dpkg -l libspice-server1 (Debian). Compare the version number against the affected Red Hat versions (6.0, 7.0, 7.2) or Debian 8.0.
    Affected if The installed version matches or falls within the affected version ranges (RHEL 6.0, 7.0, 7.2; Debian 8.0).
  3. Verify if any virtual machines are configured to use SPICE display
    Check your virtualization configuration. For libvirt/KVM: virsh list --all to list VMs, then virsh dumpxml <vm-name> | grep -i spice to see if SPICE graphics are configured.
    Affected if Virtual machines are configured with SPICE as the display type (graphics type='spice'), which would allow guest users to trigger the vulnerability.
  4. Check if the SPICE server daemon is running
    Run: ps aux | grep spice or check the status of the libvirtd service. Also check for listening ports: netstat -anp | grep 5900 (SPICE typically uses port 5900+).
    Affected if The SPICE server process is active and accepting connections from guest instances.

A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable SPICE server version (matching RHEL 6.0, 7.0, 7.2 or Debian 8.0) AND has virtual machines configured to use SPICE display, allowing guest users to interact with the unvalidated surface parameters.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update SPICE to the latest patched version that addresses proper validation of primary surface parameters. If patching is not immediately feasible, restrict local untrusted users from accessing the guest OS or consider disabling SPICE for untrusted guest environments.

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,420
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-2150 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data