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TcpdumpApplication

CVE-2016-7930

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-01-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.8.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
The LLC/SNAP parser in tcpdump before 4.9.0 has a buffer overflow in print-llc.c:llc_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 confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the LLC/SNAP parser in tcpdump's print-llc.c file (llc_print function) in versions prior to 4.9.0. The vulnerability can be triggered by processing specially crafted network packets, potentially allowing remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade tcpdump to version 4.9.0 or later to obtain the patched code that addresses the buffer overflow in the LLC/SNAP parser.

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
TcpdumpApplication
Affected:<= 4.8.1

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check if tcpdump is installed
    Run command: which tcpdump or dpkg -l | grep tcpdump (Debian) / rpm -q tcpdump (RHEL)
    Affected if tcpdump is not found on the system, then not affected
  2. Determine installed tcpdump version
    Run command: tcpdump --version
    Affected if version cannot be determined, manual review required
  3. Compare version against affected range
    Review output from --version command. Affected versions are <= 4.8.1. Versions 4.9.0 and later are NOT affected.
    Affected if installed version is 4.8.1 or lower

User is affected if tcpdump is installed and the version is 4.8.1 or lower (versions before 4.9.0).

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.8.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade tcpdump to version 4.9.0 or later to obtain the patched code that addresses the buffer overflow in the LLC/SNAP parser.

Recommended fix High confidence

tcpdump 4.9.0 or later

  1. 1. Check the currently installed tcpdump version: tcpdump --version
  2. 2. Update your system's package repository metadata: apt-get update (or corresponding package manager command)
  3. 3. Upgrade tcpdump to version 4.9.0 or later: apt-get install tcpdump (or yum/dnf update tcpdump)
  4. 4. Verify the installed version is 4.9.0 or higher: tcpdump --version
Caveat Minor: Ensure any wrapper scripts or tcpdump-based tools are tested after upgrade as output formatting may have minor changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Tcpdump Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,690
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,304.

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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-2016-7930 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