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Fencer Intel
high 7.8

CVE-2016-4997 json

The compat IPT_SO_SET_REPLACE and IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE setsockopt implementations in the netfilter subsystem in the Linux kernel before 4.6.…

published 2016-07-03 10 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-5962

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
5.7%
EPSS 5.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 93%
public exploits
3
Metasploit, Exploit-DB

Summary

The compat IPT_SO_SET_REPLACE and IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE setsockopt implementations in the netfilter subsystem in the Linux kernel before 4.6.3 allow local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) by leveraging in-container root access to provide a crafted offset value that triggers an unintended decrement.

Patch / fix

  • linux linux_kernel 3.2.80, 3.10.103, 3.12.62, 3.14.73, 3.16.37, 3.18.37, 4.1.28, 4.4.14, 4.6.3
  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.6.2-2

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-4997

  • 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-2016-4997

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-rt RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7
  • kernel-rt-kvm RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7
  • kernel-rt-trace RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7
  • kernel-rt-debug-kvm RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7
  • kernel-rt-trace-kvm RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7
  • kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7
  • kernel-rt enterprise mrg 2 1:3.10.0-327.rt56.197.el6rt
  • kernel-rt-trace enterprise mrg 2 1:3.10.0-327.rt56.197.el6rt

red hat advisories RHSA-2016:1875RHSA-2016:1883RHSA-2016:1847

  • kernel-rt SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-69.5.1
  • kernel-syms-rt SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-69.5.1
  • kernel-rt_trace SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-69.5.1
  • kernel-source-rt SLE Real Time 11 SP4 3.0.101.rt130-69.5.1
  • kernel-rt SLE Real Time 12 SP2 4.4.74-7.10.1
  • kernel-syms-rt SLE Real Time 12 SP2 4.4.74-7.10.1
  • kernel-rt_debug SLE Real Time 12 SP2 4.4.74-7.10.1
  • kernel-source-rt SLE Real Time 12 SP2 4.4.74-7.10.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2017:2342-1SUSE-SU-2017:1990-1SUSE-SU-2017:0471-1SUSE-SU-2017:0333-1SUSE-SU-2016:3304-1SUSE-SU-2016:3069-1

  • 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-2016-4997 updated cvss 7.3

kernel: compat IPT_SO_SET_REPLACE setsockopt

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1847
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time for NFV (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7, kernel-rt-kvm 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7, kernel-rt-trace-kvm 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Realtime (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-327.36.1.rt56.237.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1875
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-kdump 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, +6 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-327.36.1.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1847
  • Red Hat MRG Realtime for RHEL 6 Server v.2 kernel-rt 3.10.0-327.rt56.197.el6rt, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-327.rt56.197.el6rt, kernel-rt-vanilla 3.10.0-327.rt56.197.el6rt, kernel-rt-firmware 3.10.0-327.rt56.197.el6rt, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-327.rt56.197.el6rt
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2016:1883
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 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

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (Metasploit exploit/linux/local/netfilter_priv_esc_ipv4)
  2. Published

Exploit prediction

5.68% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 93% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • Metasploit exploit/linux/local/netfilter_priv_esc_ipv4 Linux Kernel 4.6.3 Netfilter Privilege Escalation metasploit exploit, good rank, 2016-06-03
  • EDB-40489 Linux Kernel 4.6.2 (Ubuntu 16.04.1) - 'IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE' Local Privilege Escalation local, 2016-10-10
  • EDB-40435 Linux Kernel 4.6.3 (x86) - 'Netfilter' Local Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) local, 2016-09-27
  • openwall.com http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/09/29/10 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • github.com https://github.com/nccgroup/TriforceLinuxSyscallFuzzer/tree/master/crash_reports/report_compatIpt 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 7.2 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

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