CVE-2016-7974
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 IP parser in tcpdump before 4.9.0 has a buffer overflow in print-ip.c, multiple functions.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in the IP parser (print-ip.c) in tcpdump versions prior to 4.9.0 allows remote attackers to cause a heap or stack buffer overflow via crafted IP packets, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution due to improper bounds checking in multiple parsing functions.
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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Identify tcpdump installationRun `tcpdump --version` or check your package manager: `rpm -q tcpdump` (RHEL/CentOS), `dpkg -l tcpdump` (Debian/Ubuntu), or `which tcpdump`Affected if tcpdump is not installed or the command fails
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Determine installed versionExamine the version output from the previous step - look for the version number (e.g., 4.8.1, 4.7.4, etc.)Affected if The displayed version is 4.8.1 or lower, or the version cannot be determined (indicating an old installation)
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Compare against affected rangeVerify the installed version against the affected range: any version <= 4.8.1 is vulnerable. Versions 4.9.0 and later are not affectedAffected if Installed version is 4.8.1 or any earlier release (4.8.0, 4.7.x, etc.)
You are affected if tcpdump version 4.8.1 or earlier is installed on your system and you use it to parse network packets or pcap files.
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. Until upgraded, restrict network access to systems running tcpdump and avoid processing untrusted pcap captures.
tcpdump 4.9.0 or later
- Verify current tcpdump version by running: tcpdump --version
- For Debian/Ubuntu: Run 'apt-get update && apt-get install tcpdump' to upgrade to the latest available version
- For RHEL/CentOS: Run 'yum update tcpdump' to apply available security updates
- For Gentoo: Run 'emerge --sync && emerge -av tcpdump' to get the latest version
- Alternatively, download tcpdump 4.9.0 or later from the official repository: https://www.tcpdump.org/release/
- Compile and install from source if distribution packages are outdated: ./configure && make && make install
- Verify the upgrade was successful by running: tcpdump --version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7974 — 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-2016-7974 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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