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Fencer Intel
high 7.8

CVE-2016-2779 json

runuser in util-linux allows local users to escape to the parent session via a crafted TIOCSTI ioctl call, which pushes characters to the t…

published 2017-02-07 9 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-3853

cvss
7.8
version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 32%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

runuser in util-linux allows local users to escape to the parent session via a crafted TIOCSTI ioctl call, which pushes characters to the terminal's input buffer.

Patch / fix

  • util-linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 2.31.1-0.1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-2779

  • util-linux openSUSE Tumbleweed 2.28.2-2.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10279-1

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2016-2779 updated cvss 8.6

util-linux: runuser tty hijack via TIOCSTI ioctl

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 uuidd, libuuid, libblkid, libmount, util-linux
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 util-linux Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 uuidd, libuuid, libblkid, util-linux-ng Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 uuidd, libuuid, libblkid, libfdisk, libmount, util-linux, +3 more
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.39% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 32% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.0 7.8 CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 7.2 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-264 Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.