CVE-2016-0821

The LIST_POISON feature in include/linux/poison.h in the Linux kernel before 4.3, as used in Android 6.0.1 before 2016-03-01, does not properly consider the relationship to the mmap_min_addr value, which makes it easier for attackers to bypass a poison-pointer protection mechanism by triggering the use of an uninitialized list entry, aka Android internal bug 26186802, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-3636.

Published: 2016-03-12 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-0821 is rated Low Risk (32.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.38%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-0821

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.01% 0.38% +0.38%
2 2025-03-17 0.06% 0.01% -0.06%
3 2023-03-07 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-0821

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]
2.1 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-0821

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-0821

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-0821 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-0821
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-0821
suse low CVE-2016-0821 severity low: SUSE including 15 source package names (kernel-default, kernel-default-base, …), 381 product×package rows across 87 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, … (87 product lines)): Known Not Affected 381. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-0821/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-0821 medium priority: Ubuntu including 99 source packages (linux, linux-armadaxp, …), 828 status rows across 13 suites (artful, bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 549, not-affected 137, released 109, ignored 33. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-0821

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-0821

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel < 4.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
google android 6.0.1 cpe:2.3:o:google:android:6.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-0821

URL Tags
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=8a5e5e02fc83aaf67053ab53b359af08c6c49aaf Issue Tracking Patch Vendor Advisory
http://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2016-03-01.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3607 Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/05/02/6 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/84260 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2967-1 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2967-2 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2968-1 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2968-2 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2969-1 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2970-1 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2971-1 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2971-2 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2971-3 Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/8a5e5e02fc83aaf67053ab53b359af08c6c49aaf Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
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