CVE-2016-6224

ecryptfs-setup-swap in eCryptfs does not prevent the unencrypted swap partition from activating during boot when using GPT partitioning on a (1) NVMe or (2) MMC drive, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information via unspecified vectors. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-8946.

Published: 2016-07-22 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-6224 is rated Low Risk (23.7/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.38%). 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-2016-6224

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 0.10% 0.38% +0.28%
2 2025-03-17 0.04% 0.10% +0.06%
3 2023-03-07 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-6224

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.3 3.0 LOW
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 1.4 [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-2016-6224

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-6224

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2016-6224 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (ecryptfs-utils), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-6224
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-6224
suse low CVE-2016-6224 severity low: SUSE including 4 source package names (ecryptfs-utils, ecryptfs-utils-103-8.3.1, ecryptfs-utils-32bit, ecryptfs-utils-32bit-103-8.3.1), 33 product×package rows across 19 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2, … (19 product lines)): Fixed 23, Known Not Affected 10. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-6224/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-6224 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (ecryptfs-utils), 5 status rows across 5 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, wily, xenial): not-affected 2, released 2, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-6224

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-6224

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ecryptfs ecryptfs-utils <= 110 cpe:2.3:a:ecryptfs:ecryptfs-utils:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-6224

cvelogic Threat Intelligence