CVE-2016-7983
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 BOOTP parser in tcpdump before 4.9.0 has a buffer overflow in print-bootp.c:bootp_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 BOOTP packet parser (bootp_print function) in 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 BOOTP 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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Identify tcpdump versionRun 'tcpdump --version' or 'tcpdump -V' to determine the installed version numberAffected if The version displayed is 4.8.1 or earlier (prior to 4.9.0)
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Verify BOOTP packet capture is possibleCheck if tcpdump has permissions to capture network packets and if the BOOTP protocol is being monitored - inspect running tcpdump commands with 'ps aux | grep tcpdump' or review any tcpdump wrapper scripts or filtersAffected if Tcpdump is actively capturing or has the capability to capture BOOTP/DHCP traffic on the network interface
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Confirm bootp_print function is reachableReview tcpdump command-line arguments or capture filters for expressions like 'bootp', 'dhcp', or port 67/68 to determine if the BOOTP parser code path would be exercised during packet captureAffected if Capture filters explicitly include BOOTP/DHCP traffic or the interface is in promiscuous mode receiving broadcast BOOTP packets
You are affected if tcpdump version is 4.8.1 or earlier AND the system is capturing or capable of capturing BOOTP/DHCP network traffic where the vulnerable bootp_print function would be invoked.
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 BOOTP parser.
tcpdump 4.9.0 or later
- 1. Check the current tcpdump version by running: tcpdump --version or tcpdump -V
- 2. If the version is 4.8.1 or earlier, upgrade tcpdump to version 4.9.0 or later
- 3. On Debian/Ubuntu: apt-get update && apt-get install tcpdump
- 4. On Red Hat/CentOS: yum update tcpdump
- 5. On Gentoo: emerge --update tcpdump
- 6. 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
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7983 — 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-2016-7983 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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