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Fencer Vulns
high 7.8

CVE-2016-2853 json

The aufs module for the Linux kernel 3.x and 4.x does not properly restrict the mount namespace, which allows local users to gain privilege…

published 2016-05-02 10 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-3926

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.9%
EPSS 0.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 60%
public exploits
1
Exploit-DB

Summary

The aufs module for the Linux kernel 3.x and 4.x does not properly restrict the mount namespace, which allows local users to gain privileges by mounting an aufs filesystem on top of a FUSE filesystem, and then executing a crafted setuid program.

Patch / fix

  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 3.18-1~exp1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-2853

  • linux Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-222.255
  • linux-aws Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-1102.107
  • linux-aws Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1138.152
  • linux-kvm Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1103.112
  • linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-222.255~14.04.1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-2853

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

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-2016-2853 updated cvss 0.0

kernel: aufs module does not properly restrict the mount namespace

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-alt, python-perf, +9 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 kernel
    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

  1. First public exploit (EDB-41761)
  2. Published

Exploit prediction

0.91% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 60% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • EDB-41761 AUFS (Ubuntu 15.10) - 'allow_userns' Fuse/Xattr User Namespaces Privilege Escalation local, 2016-02-19
  • halfdog.net http://www.halfdog.net/Security/2016/AufsPrivilegeEscalationInUserNamespaces/ referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • openwall.com http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/02/24/9 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

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 4.4 AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
Technology feeds

References

Sources

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.