CVE-2016-3136

Exp

The mct_u232_msr_to_state function in drivers/usb/serial/mct_u232.c in the Linux kernel before 4.5.1 allows physically proximate attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and system crash) via a crafted USB device without two interrupt-in endpoint descriptors.

Published: 2016-05-02 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2016-3136 is rated High Exploit Risk (61.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.80%). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +1.59% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2016-3136

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
39541 exploit_db edb 2016-03-09 Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-3136

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 0.20% 1.80% +1.59%
2 2025-06-21 0.12% 0.20% +0.08%
3 2025-05-20 0.12%

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-3136

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.6 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:P)
Hands-on access—USB, keyboard, opening the case—not something you do purely over the wire.
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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
0.9 3.6 [email protected]
4.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
3.9 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-3136

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-3136

vendor priority summary link
debian low CVE-2016-3136 low 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-2016-3136
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-3136
ubuntu low CVE-2016-3136 low priority: Ubuntu including 27 source packages (linux, linux-armadaxp, …), 185 status rows across 7 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 118, released 41, ignored 15, not-affected 11. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-3136

NVD evaluator notes for CVE-2016-3136

Comment: <a href="http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476.html">CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference</a>

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-3136

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel <= 4.5.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit 12.0 cpe:2.3:a:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit 12.0 cpe:2.3:a:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_desktop 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_desktop:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_desktop 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_desktop:12.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_live_patching 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_live_patching:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_module_for_public_cloud 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_module_for_public_cloud:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_real_time_extension 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_real_time_extension:12.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_server 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_server:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_server 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_server:12.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_workstation_extension 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_workstation_extension:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_workstation_extension 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_workstation_extension:12.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 12.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-3136

URL Tags
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=4e9a0b05257f29cf4b75f3209243ed71614d062e
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-05/msg00060.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00054.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00056.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00005.html
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3607
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.5.1
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/03/14/2
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/84299
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2968-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2968-2
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2970-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2971-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2971-2
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2971-3
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2996-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2997-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3000-1
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1283370
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1317007
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/4e9a0b05257f29cf4b75f3209243ed71614d062e
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/39541/
cvelogic Threat Intelligence