The proc_keys_show function in security/keys/proc.c in the Linux kernel through 4.8.2, when the GNU Compiler Collection (gcc) stack protect…

published 2016-10-16 10 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-7925

cvss: 6.2; version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 0.4%; EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 33%
public exploits: 0; none known

The proc_keys_show function in security/keys/proc.c in the Linux kernel through 4.8.2, when the GNU Compiler Collection (gcc) stack protector is enabled, uses an incorrect buffer size for certain timeout data, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (stack memory corruption and panic) by reading the /proc/keys file.

Patch / fix

distros 5

debian ubuntu red hat suse opensuse

linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.7.8-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-7042

linux Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.13.0-101.148
linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-47.68
linux-raspi2 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1038.45
linux-lts-vivid Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.19.0-74.82~14.04.1
linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-47.68~14.04.1
linux-snapdragon Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1035.39

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-7042

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

kernel RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
python-perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
kernel-kdump RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
kernel-firmware RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
kernel-bootwrapper RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
kernel-abi-whitelists RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6
kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 RHEL 6 2.6.32-696.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2017:0817 RHSA-2017:2669 RHSA-2017:2077 RHSA-2017:1842

kernel-rt SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-68.1
kernel-syms-rt SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-68.1
kernel-rt_trace SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-68.1
kernel-source-rt SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-68.1
kernel-ec2 SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3, OpenStack Cloud 5 +2 more 3.0.101-0.47.96.1
kernel-pae SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3 3.0.101-0.47.96.1
kernel-xen SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3, OpenStack Cloud 5 +2 more 3.0.101-0.47.96.1
kernel-syms SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3, OpenStack Cloud 5 +2 more 3.0.101-0.47.96.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2017:1102-1 SUSE-SU-2017:0494-1 SUSE-SU-2017:0471-1 SUSE-SU-2017:0333-1 SUSE-SU-2017:0181-1 SUSE-SU-2016:3304-1

kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 4.8.13-1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10128-1

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2016-7042 updated 2026-11-05 cvss 5.5

kernel: Stack corruption while reading /proc/keys when gcc stack protector is enabled

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel
affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel 3.10.0-693.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-693.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel 3.10.0-693.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-693.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time for NFV (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-kvm 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-trace-kvm 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.rt56.617.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:2077
Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-696.el6, +4 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel 3.10.0-693.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-kdump 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-693.el7, +6 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 3.10.0-693.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842

show 6 more

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel 3.10.0-693.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-693.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-693.el7, +1 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-696.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-696.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0817
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:1842
Red Hat MRG Realtime for RHEL 6 Server v.2 kernel-rt 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt, kernel-rt-vanilla 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt, kernel-rt-firmware 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-693.2.1.rt56.585.el6rt
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:2669
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) kernel-headers 3.10.0-693.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) kernel-headers 3.10.0-693.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) kernel-headers 3.10.0-693.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) kernel-headers 3.10.0-693.el7
not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.40% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 33% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	3.0	6.2	CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD	2.0	4.9	AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Classification

Weakness

CWE-119 Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

Technology feeds

Linux kernel rss critical rss

References

access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017:2669
vendor-advisory
rhn.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017-0817.html
vendor-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017:2077
vendor-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017:1842
vendor-advisory
source.android.com /security/bulletin/2017-01-01.html
bugzilla.redhat.com /show_bug.cgi?id=1373966
issue-tracking, third-party-advisory
openwall.com /lists/oss-security/2016/10/13/5
mailing-list
securityfocus.com /bid/93544
vdb-entry

Sources

CVE List CVE-2016-7042
NVD CVE-2016-7042

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary