The sock_setsockopt function in net/core/sock.c in the Linux kernel before 4.8.14 mishandles negative values of sk_sndbuf and sk_rcvbuf, wh…

published 2016-12-28 9 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-10594

cvss: 7.8; version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 1.6%; EPSS 1.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 75%
public exploits: 1; Exploit-DB

The sock_setsockopt function in net/core/sock.c in the Linux kernel before 4.8.14 mishandles negative values of sk_sndbuf and sk_rcvbuf, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (memory corruption and system crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact by leveraging the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability for a crafted setsockopt system call with the (1) SO_SNDBUFFORCE or (2) SO_RCVBUFFORCE option.

Patch / fix

fixed in 1 distros 4 links 3

linux linux_kernel 3.12.69, 3.16.40, 3.18.52, 4.1.50, 4.4.38, 4.8.14

debian ubuntu red hat suse

linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.8.15-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-9793

linux Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.13.0-107.154
linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-59.80
linux-aws Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1003.12
linux-raspi2 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1040.47
linux-lts-vivid Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.19.0-79.87~14.04.1
linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-59.80~14.04.1
linux-snapdragon Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1044.48

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-9793

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-rt RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7
kernel-rt-kvm RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7
kernel-rt-trace RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7
kernel-rt-debug-kvm RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7
kernel-rt-trace-kvm RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7
kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7
kernel-rt enterprise mrg 2 1:3.10.0-514.rt56.219.el6rt
kernel-rt-trace enterprise mrg 2 1:3.10.0-514.rt56.219.el6rt

red hat advisories RHSA-2017:0931 RHSA-2017:0932 RHSA-2017:0933

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-2017:0464-1 SUSE-SU-2017:0437-1 SUSE-SU-2017:0407-1

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-2016-9793 updated 2026-11-05 cvss 6.7

kernel: Signed overflow for SO_{SND|RCV}BUFFORCE

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0933
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time for NFV (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7, kernel-rt-kvm 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7, kernel-rt-trace-kvm 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Realtime (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.16.1.rt56.437.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0931
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-kdump 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, +6 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.16.1.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0933
Red Hat MRG Realtime for RHEL 6 Server v.2 kernel-rt 3.10.0-514.rt56.219.el6rt, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-514.rt56.219.el6rt, kernel-rt-vanilla 3.10.0-514.rt56.219.el6rt, kernel-rt-firmware 3.10.0-514.rt56.219.el6rt, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.rt56.219.el6rt
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0932
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more
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

Timeline

2016-12-28 Published
2017-03-22 First public exploit (EDB-41995)

Exploit prediction

1.57% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 75% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

EDB-41995 Linux Kernel 3.11 < 4.8 0 - 'SO_SNDBUFFORCE' / 'SO_RCVBUFFORCE' Local Privilege Escalation local, 2017-03-22

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	3.1	7.8	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD	2.0	7.2	AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/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

github.com /torvalds/linux/commit/b98b0bc8c431e3ceb4b26b0dfc8db509518fb290
patch, vendor-advisory
git.kernel.org /cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=b98b0bc8c431e3ceb4b26b0dfc8db509518fb290
patch, vendor-advisory
openwall.com /lists/oss-security/2016/12/03/1
mailing-list, patch, third-party-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017:0932
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017:0933
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017:0931
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
kernel.org /pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.8.14
release-notes, vendor-advisory
securitytracker.com /id/1037968
vdb-entry, third-party-advisory
github.com /xairy/kernel-exploits/tree/master/CVE-2016-9793
third-party-advisory
securityfocus.com /bid/94655
vdb-entry, third-party-advisory
source.android.com /security/bulletin/2017-03-01.html
third-party-advisory
bugzilla.redhat.com /show_bug.cgi?id=1402013
issue-tracking, third-party-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2016-9793
NVD CVE-2016-9793

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