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Fencer Intel
high 7.8

CVE-2016-2854 json

The aufs module for the Linux kernel 3.x and 4.x does not properly maintain POSIX ACL xattr data, which allows local users to gain privileg…

published 2016-05-02 10 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-3927

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.9%
EPSS 0.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 61%
public exploits
1
Exploit-DB

Summary

The aufs module for the Linux kernel 3.x and 4.x does not properly maintain POSIX ACL xattr data, which allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging a group-writable setgid directory.

Patch / fix

  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 3.18-1~exp1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-2854

  • linux Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-222.255
  • linux-aws Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-1102.107
  • linux-aws Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1138.152
  • linux-kvm Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1103.112
  • linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-222.255~14.04.1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-2854

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

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-2016-2854 updated cvss 0.0

kernel: aufs module does not properly maintain POSIX ACL xattr data

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-alt, python-perf, +9 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 kernel
    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

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (EDB-41761)
  2. Published

Exploit prediction

0.95% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 61% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • EDB-41761 AUFS (Ubuntu 15.10) - 'allow_userns' Fuse/Xattr User Namespaces Privilege Escalation local, 2016-02-19
  • halfdog.net http://www.halfdog.net/Security/2016/AufsPrivilegeEscalationInUserNamespaces/ referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • openwall.com http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/02/24/9 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 4.6 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
Technology feeds

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.