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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2016-6162

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-08-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
net/core/skbuff.c in the Linux kernel 4.7-rc6 allows local users to cause a denial of service (panic) or possibly have unspecified other impact via certain IPv6 socket operations.

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 · moderate confidence

A memory corruption or NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in net/core/skbuff.c in Linux kernel 4.7-rc6. Local users can trigger a kernel panic (denial of service) or potentially achieve code execution through crafted IPv6 socket operations that improperly handle socket buffers.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied kernel patch or upgrade to a fixed kernel version that includes the corrected skbuff handling code for IPv6 operations; then reboot the system to load the patched kernel.

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
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:= 4.7

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
High

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

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 the running kernel version
    Run 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version' to get the exact kernel version
    Affected if The version is 4.7.x or 4.7-rc6 specifically
  2. Verify IPv6 is enabled on the system
    Check /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/all/disable_ipv6 or run 'ip -6 addr show'; a value of 0 means IPv6 is active
    Affected if IPv6 is enabled (value 0) and kernel is version 4.7
  3. Determine if the system has local untrusted users
    Review /etc/passwd for non-system user accounts or check /etc/sudoers for sudo access; check for world-writable directories that allow local user creation
    Affected if The system permits local user accounts beyond root and system service accounts
  4. Inspect skbuff.c for patch status
    Check if the file //net/core/skbuff.c in the kernel source tree contains the fix: look for the 'frag' initialization or check the kernel config for CONFIG_IPV6=y
    Affected if The kernel source is unpatched and IPv6 support is compiled in (CONFIG_IPV6=y)

A system is affected if it runs Linux kernel 4.7.x with IPv6 enabled and permits local user access, since the vulnerability is triggered through crafted IPv6 socket operations by local users.

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

Apply the vendor-supplied kernel patch or upgrade to a fixed kernel version that includes the corrected skbuff handling code for IPv6 operations; then reboot the system to load the patched kernel.

Fix this in Linux Kernel Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
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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-2016-6162 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