CVE-2016-4569

The snd_timer_user_params function in sound/core/timer.c in the Linux kernel through 4.6 does not initialize a certain data structure, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from kernel stack memory via crafted use of the ALSA timer interface.

Published: 2016-05-23 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-4569 is rated Moderate Risk (41/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.84%). 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-2016-4569

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 0.36% 0.84% +0.48%
2 2026-05-13 0.34% 0.36% +0.02%
3 2026-01-18 — 0.34% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-4569

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
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:P/I:N/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:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-4569

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-4569

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-4569 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-2016-4569
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-4569
suse low CVE-2016-4569 severity low: SUSE including 239 source package names (kernel-3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists-3.10.0-514.el7, …), 693 product×package rows across 107 product lines (SLES for SAP Applications 11 SP3, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, … (107 product lines)): Fixed 383, Known Not Affected 310. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-4569/
ubuntu low CVE-2016-4569 low 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 133, released 113, ignored 33. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-4569

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-4569

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel <= 4.6 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 15.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:15.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit 11.0 cpe:2.3:a:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:11.0:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
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_debuginfo 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_debuginfo:11.0:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
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 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_server:11.0:extra:*:*:*:*:*:*
novell suse_linux_enterprise_server 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_server:11.0:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-4569

URL Tags
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=cec8f96e49d9be372fdb0c3836dcf31ec71e457e
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00044.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00052.html Third Party Advisory
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/2016-08/msg00000.html Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-08/msg00007.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-08/msg00044.html
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-08/msg00055.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2574.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2584.html
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3607
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/05/09/17
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/90347
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3016-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3016-2
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3016-3
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3016-4
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3017-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3017-2
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3017-3
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3018-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3018-2
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3019-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3020-1
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3021-1 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3021-2 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1334643 Issue Tracking
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/cec8f96e49d9be372fdb0c3836dcf31ec71e457e Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence