CVE-2016-7933
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 PPP parser in tcpdump before 4.9.0 has a buffer overflow in print-ppp.c:ppp_hdlc_if_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 PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) parser in tcpdump versions before 4.9.0, specifically in the ppp_hdlc_if_print() function within print-ppp.c. The vulnerability allows memory corruption in the parsing of PPP HDLC frames, which can lead to remote code execution when tcpdump processes specially crafted packets.
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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Verify tcpdump is installedRun 'tcpdump --version' or check your package manager for tcpdump (e.g., dpkg -l tcpdump, rpm -q tcpdump)Affected if tcpdump is present on the system
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Determine the installed tcpdump versionRun 'tcpdump --version' and note the version number displayedAffected if The version number is 4.8.1 or earlier
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Identify if PPP traffic is being capturedReview any tcpdump capture scripts, cron jobs, or packet capture configurations for use of the PPP protocol (protocol number 0x880B) or interface types such as ppp0, hdlc0, or similar point-to-point interfacesAffected if tcpdump is configured to capture or process PPP traffic
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Check for active packet capture on untrusted networksReview network capture configurations to determine if tcpdump is processing packets from untrusted or external network sourcesAffected if tcpdump is capturing packets from untrusted network segments where specially crafted PPP packets could be received
A user is affected if tcpdump version 4.8.1 or earlier is installed and is or could be processing PPP HDLC frames from network traffic.
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 upgrading is not feasible, restrict network access to untrusted sources and disable packet capture on untrusted interfaces as a temporary compensating control.
tcpdump 4.9.0 or later
- Verify current tcpdump version: tcpdump --version or dpkg -l tcpdump / rpm -q tcpdump
- Update package repository metadata: sudo apt-get update (Debian/Ubuntu) or sudo yum check-update (RHEL/CentOS)
- Upgrade tcpdump package: sudo apt-get install tcpdump (Debian/Ubuntu) or sudo yum update tcpdump (RHEL/CentOS)
- Alternatively, for source compilation: Download tcpdump 4.9.0 or later from tcpdump.org
- Extract source: tar xzf tcpdump-x.x.x.tar.gz
- Configure and compile: ./configure && make && make install
- Verify new version: tcpdump --version
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
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7933 — 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-2016-7933 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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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.
- 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
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