CVE-2016-3689

The ims_pcu_parse_cdc_data function in drivers/input/misc/ims-pcu.c in the Linux kernel before 4.5.1 allows physically proximate attackers to cause a denial of service (system crash) via a USB device without both a master and a slave interface.

Published: 2016-05-02 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-3689 is rated Low Risk (34/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.59%). 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-2016-3689

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 0.09% 0.59% +0.50%
2 2026-01-05 0.05% 0.09% +0.04%
3 2025-12-30 — 0.05% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-3689

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-2016-3689

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-3689

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-3689 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-2016-3689
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-3689
suse medium CVE-2016-3689 severity moderate: SUSE including 127 source package names (kernel-compute-3.12.58-14.1, kernel-compute-base-3.12.58-14.1, …), 268 product×package rows across 49 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP4, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12, … (49 product lines)): Fixed 185, Known Not Affected 83. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-3689/
ubuntu low CVE-2016-3689 low priority: Ubuntu including 27 source packages (linux, linux-armadaxp, …), 158 status rows across 6 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety): DNE 95, released 38, not-affected 18, ignored 7. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-3689

NVD evaluator notes for CVE-2016-3689

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

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-3689

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
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:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel <= 4.5.0 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-3689

URL Tags
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=a0ad220c96692eda76b2e3fd7279f3dcd1d8a8ff Vendor Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-05/msg00060.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00054.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00056.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00005.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.5.1 Vendor Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/03/30/6
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1035441
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-3000-1 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=971628 Issue Tracking
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1320060 Issue Tracking
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/a0ad220c96692eda76b2e3fd7279f3dcd1d8a8ff Vendor Advisory
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