CVE-2016-7975
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 TCP parser in tcpdump before 4.9.0 has a buffer overflow in print-tcp.c:tcp_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 TCP packet parser (print-tcp.c:tcp_print()) of tcpdump versions prior to 4.9.0. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially execute arbitrary code via specially crafted TCP packets, as the TCP parser does not properly validate input before writing to a buffer.
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 for the binary at /usr/sbin/tcpdump or /usr/bin/tcpdump using 'which tcpdump'Affected if tcpdump is present on the system
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Determine installed tcpdump versionExecute 'tcpdump --version' and note the version number displayed (e.g., tcpdump 4.8.1)Affected if The version is 4.8.1 or earlier, or the version cannot be determined but tcpdump is present
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Check if tcpdump is used to capture live network trafficReview any cron jobs, scripts, or services that run tcpdump with network interface flags (such as -i any or -i <interface>) to capture packetsAffected if tcpdump is actively capturing or historically captured packets on network interfaces
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Identify if TCP protocol parsing is involvedExamine tcpdump command lines or configuration for TCP-related captures: look for filters like 'tcp', 'port <number>', or no filter (which captures all protocols including TCP)Affected if tcpdump captures include TCP traffic or capture all traffic without protocol filtering
The system is affected if tcpdump version 4.8.1 or earlier is installed and is used to capture live network traffic that includes TCP 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 to patch the buffer overflow vulnerability in the TCP parser.
tcpdump 4.9.0
- Check current tcpdump version by running: tcpdump --version or dpkg -l | grep tcpdump
- 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 --update tcpdump
- Verify the upgrade was successful by running: tcpdump --version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 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 $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7975 — 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-2016-7975 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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