CVE-2016-2779

runuser in util-linux allows local users to escape to the parent session via a crafted TIOCSTI ioctl call, which pushes characters to the terminal's input buffer.

Published: 2017-02-07 Last update: 2026-05-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-2779 is rated Moderate Risk (42.1/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.39%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2016-2779

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 0.04% 0.39% +0.35%
2 2026-03-17 0.15% 0.04% -0.11%
3 2026-03-03 — 0.15% —

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-2779

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C 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:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-2779

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-2779

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-2779 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (util-linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-2779
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-2779
suse high CVE-2016-2779 severity important: SUSE including 554 source package names (amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20210304-hvm-ssd-x86_64, amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20220127-hvm-ssd-x86_64, …), 940 product×package rows across 68 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.5, … (68 product lines)): Fixed 455, Known Not Affected 328, Known Affected 157. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-2779/
ubuntu low CVE-2016-2779 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (util-linux), 17 status rows across 17 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): not-affected 11, ignored 5, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-2779

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-2779

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
kernel util-linux 2.24.2-1 cpe:2.3:a:kernel:util-linux:2.24.2-1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-2779

URL Tags
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/02/27/1 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/02/27/2 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=815922 Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
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