The mpi_powm function in lib/mpi/mpi-pow.c in the Linux kernel through 4.8.11 does not ensure that memory is allocated for limb data, which…

published 2016-11-28 9 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-9489

cvss: 5.5; 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 35%
public exploits: 0; none known

The mpi_powm function in lib/mpi/mpi-pow.c in the Linux kernel through 4.8.11 does not ensure that memory is allocated for limb data, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (stack memory corruption and panic) via an add_key system call for an RSA key with a zero exponent.

Patch / fix

distros 3 links 2

debian ubuntu red hat

linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.8.11-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-8650

linux Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.13.0-132.181
linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-62.83
linux-aws Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1003.12
linux-hwe Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.8.0-39.42~16.04.1
linux-raspi2 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1042.49
linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-62.83~14.04.1
linux-snapdragon Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1046.50

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-8650

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 2.6.32-754.el6
perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-754.el6
python-perf RHEL 6 2.6.32-754.el6
kernel-kdump RHEL 6 2.6.32-754.el6
kernel-firmware RHEL 6 2.6.32-754.el6
kernel-bootwrapper RHEL 6 2.6.32-754.el6
kernel-abi-whitelists RHEL 6 2.6.32-754.el6
kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 RHEL 6 2.6.32-754.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2018:1854 RHSA-2017:0931 RHSA-2017:0932 RHSA-2017:0933

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-2016-8650 updated 2026-11-05 cvss 8.8

kernel: Null pointer dereference via keyctl

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 Desktop (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-754.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-754.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2018:1854
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
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0931
Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-754.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-754.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2018:1854
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. 6) perf 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-kdump 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-bootwrapper 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-754.el6, +4 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2018:1854
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
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0933
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-754.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2018:1854

show 7 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
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0933
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) perf 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-firmware 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-abi-whitelists 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-754.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2018:1854
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
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0933
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) python-perf 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-i686 2.6.32-754.el6, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 2.6.32-754.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2018:1854
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
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

0.41% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 35% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	3.0	5.5	CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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-20 Improper Input Validation
CWE-399 Resource Management Errors

Technology feeds

Linux kernel rss critical rss

References

github.com /torvalds/linux/commit/f5527fffff3f002b0a6b376163613b82f69de073
issue-tracking, patch, third-party-advisory
git.kernel.org /cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=f5527fffff3f002b0a6b376163613b82f69de073
issue-tracking, patch, vendor-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2018:1854
vendor-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017:0932
vendor-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017:0933
vendor-advisory
access.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017:0931
vendor-advisory
securitytracker.com /id/1037968
vdb-entry
seclists.org /fulldisclosure/2016/Nov/76
mailing-list
openwall.com /lists/oss-security/2016/11/24/8
mailing-list, third-party-advisory
bugzilla.redhat.com /show_bug.cgi?id=1395187
issue-tracking
securityfocus.com /bid/94532
vdb-entry
source.android.com /security/bulletin/2017-03-01.html

Sources

CVE List CVE-2016-8650
NVD CVE-2016-8650

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