CVE-2016-7922
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 · uneditedThe AH parser in tcpdump before 4.9.0 has a buffer overflow in print-ah.c:ah_print().
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 confidenceA buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the AH (Authentication Header) parser in tcpdump before version 4.9.0. The flaw is in the ah_print() function in print-ah.c, which handles parsing of AH protocol packets. A remote attacker can exploit this by sending specially crafted AH packets to cause a denial of service (crash) or potentially execute arbitrary code.
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<= 4.8.1CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed tcpdump versionRun 'tcpdump --version' or use your package manager (rpm -q tcpdump, dpkg -l tcpdump, etc.) to determine the installed versionAffected if The version is 4.8.1 or earlier (any version <= 4.8.1)
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Verify if AH protocol parsing is possibleCheck if tcpdump is configured to capture traffic that could contain AH (Authentication Header) packets. AH is IP protocol number 51. Inspect any capture scripts, cron jobs, or running processes that invoke tcpdump with packet capture flagsAffected if Tcpdump is used to capture or analyze network traffic that may include AH/IPsec packets
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Confirm tcpdump is actively used in the environmentReview running processes for tcpdump instances (ps aux | grep tcpdump), check for systemd service files, or examine any network monitoring configurations that rely on tcpdumpAffected if Tcpdump is actively running, scheduled to run, or available for use on the system
You are affected if tcpdump version is 4.8.1 or earlier AND the system uses tcpdump to process network traffic that could contain AH (Authentication Header/IPsec) packets.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade tcpdump to version 4.9.0 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to systems running tcpdump and disable packet capture on untrusted networks.
tcpdump 4.9.0 or later
- Check current tcpdump version using: tcpdump --version or dpkg -l | grep tcpdump (Debian) / rpm -qi tcpdump (Red Hat)
- Upgrade tcpdump to version 4.9.0 or later. On Debian/Ubuntu: apt-get update && apt-get install tcpdump
- On Red Hat/CentOS: yum update tcpdump
- On Gentoo: emerge --sync && emerge -av net-analyzer/tcpdump
- Verify the installed version meets the minimum requirement of 4.9.0: tcpdump --version
- Test that tcpdump functions正常运行 (run a basic capture test to confirm no regressions)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7922 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-7922 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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