CVE-2016-7912 [High] | Use-After-Free in Linux Kernel

CVE-2016-7912 is rated Moderate Risk (60.8/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.11%). EPSS rose +1.83% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	0.28%	2.11%	+1.83%
2	2025-03-30	0.96%	0.28%	-0.68%
3	2025-03-29	—	0.96%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

0.28%

2.11%

+1.83%

2025-03-30

0.96%

0.28%

-0.68%

2025-03-29

—

0.96%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
7.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. 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:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	5.9	[email protected]
9.3	2.0	HIGH	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:C) Complete confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:C) Complete integrity impact. Availability impact (A:C) Complete availability impact.	8.6	10.0	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

7.8

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

5.9

[email protected]

9.3

2.0

HIGH

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C): Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C): Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C): Complete availability impact.

8.6

10.0

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-7912

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2016-7912 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-2016-7912
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-7912
`suse`	medium	CVE-2016-7912 severity moderate: SUSE including 8 source package names (kernel-default, kernel-default-base, …), 20 product×package rows across 3 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP1, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2): Known Not Affected 20.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-7912/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2016-7912 medium priority: Ubuntu including 32 source packages (linux, linux-armadaxp, …), 216 status rows across 7 suites (artful, precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 145, released 36, not-affected 28, ignored 7.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-7912

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-7912

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 3.15, < 3.16.40	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 3.17, < 4.1.24	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 4.2, < 4.4.9	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 4.5, < 4.5.3	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::

References for CVE-2016-7912

URL	Tags
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=38740a5b87d53ceb89eb2c970150f6e94e00373a	Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
http://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2016-11-01.html	Third Party Advisory
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.5.3	Release Notes Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94197	Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/38740a5b87d53ceb89eb2c970150f6e94e00373a	Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2016-7912

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-7912

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-7912

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-7912

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-7912

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-7912

References for CVE-2016-7912