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Fencer Intel
medium 5.5

CVE-2016-4569 json

The snd_timer_user_params function in sound/core/timer.c in the Linux kernel through 4.6 does not initialize a certain data structure, whic…

published 2016-05-23 10 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-5555

cvss
5.5
version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.8%
EPSS 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 57%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The snd_timer_user_params function in sound/core/timer.c in the Linux kernel through 4.6 does not initialize a certain data structure, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from kernel stack memory via crafted use of the ALSA timer interface.

Patch / fix

  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.5.5-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-4569

  • linux Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.13.0-91.138
  • linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-28.47
  • linux-raspi2 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1016.22
  • linux-lts-wily Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 4.2.0-41.48~14.04.1
  • linux-lts-vivid Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.19.0-64.72~14.04.1
  • linux-lts-utopic Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.16.0-76.98~14.04.1
  • linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-28.47~14.04.1
  • linux-snapdragon Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1019.22

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-4569

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

  • kernel RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.el7
  • perf RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.el7
  • python-perf RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.el7
  • kernel-kdump RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.el7
  • kernel-tools RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.el7
  • kernel-tools-libs RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.el7
  • kernel-bootwrapper RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.el7
  • kernel-abi-whitelists RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.el7

red hat advisories RHSA-2016:2574RHSA-2016:2584

  • kernel-ec2 SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3, OpenStack Cloud 5 +2 more 3.0.101-0.47.86.1
  • kernel-pae SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3 3.0.101-0.47.86.1
  • kernel-xen SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3, OpenStack Cloud 5 +2 more 3.0.101-0.47.86.1
  • kernel-syms SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3, OpenStack Cloud 5 +2 more 3.0.101-0.47.86.1
  • kernel-trace SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3, OpenStack Cloud 5 +2 more 3.0.101-0.47.86.1
  • kernel-bigsmp SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, OpenStack Cloud 5, Manager Proxy 2.1 +1 more 3.0.101-0.47.86.1
  • kernel-source SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3, OpenStack Cloud 5 +2 more 3.0.101-0.47.86.1
  • kernel-default SLES 11 SP3-LTSS, SLE Point of Sale 11 SP3, OpenStack Cloud 5 +2 more 3.0.101-0.47.86.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2017:0333-1SUSE-SU-2016:2245-1SUSE-SU-2016:2105-1SUSE-SU-2016:1985-1SUSE-SU-2016:1937-1SUSE-SU-2016:1696-1

  • kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 4.8.13-1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10128-1

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-2016-4569 updated cvss 2.1

kernel: Information leak in Linux sound module in timer.c

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 kernel-rt, mrg-rt-release, kernel-rt-trace, kernel-rt-vanilla, kernel-rt-firmware
    affected: no fix available
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-514.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-514.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:2574
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-514.rt56.420.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-514.rt56.420.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.rt56.420.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time for NFV (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-514.rt56.420.el7, kernel-rt-kvm 3.10.0-514.rt56.420.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-514.rt56.420.el7, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 3.10.0-514.rt56.420.el7, kernel-rt-trace-kvm 3.10.0-514.rt56.420.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.rt56.420.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:2584
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-kdump 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.el7, +6 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 3.10.0-514.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-514.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:2574

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

0.83% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 57% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.0 5.5 CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
NVD 2.0 2.1 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
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.