CVE-2016-5403

The virtqueue_pop function in hw/virtio/virtio.c in QEMU allows local guest OS administrators to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and QEMU process crash) by submitting requests without waiting for completion.

Published: 2016-08-02 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-5403 is rated Low Risk (28.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). 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-2016-5403

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 2023-03-07 1.55% 0.06% -1.49%
2 2022-02-04 — 1.55% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-5403

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:N/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: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.
 1.8 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-2016-5403

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-5403

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2016-5403: 1 source package rows (xen); 10 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 10, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2016-5403
debian not yet assigned CVE-2016-5403 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (qemu), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-5403
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5403
suse low CVE-2016-5403 severity low: SUSE including 834 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, …), 1144 product×package rows across 65 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE Liberty Linux 7, … (65 product lines)): Fixed 795, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 118. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5403/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-5403 medium priority: Ubuntu including 3 source packages (qemu, qemu-kvm, xen), 18 status rows across 6 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial, yakkety): released 6, DNE 5, needs-triage 3, ignored 2, not-affected 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5403

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-5403

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
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 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
oracle linux 5 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:linux:5:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle linux 6 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:linux:6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle linux 7 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:linux:7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle vm_server 3.4 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:vm_server:3.4:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
qemu qemu <= 2.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:qemu:qemu:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
qemu qemu 2.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:qemu:qemu:2.7.0:rc0:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 5.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 8 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 9 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat virtualization 3.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:virtualization:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.2 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.5 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.7 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.2 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.5 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.7 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.2 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.7 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-5403

URL Tags
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1585.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1586.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1606.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1607.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1652.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1653.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1654.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1655.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1756.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1763.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1943.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinjul2016-3090544.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2016-3090545.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/ovmbulletinjul2016-3090546.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/92148 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036476 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3047-1 Third Party Advisory
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3047-2 Third Party Advisory
http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-184.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1358359 Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/09/msg00021.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
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