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Fencer Intel
medium 5.5

CVE-2016-7914 json

The assoc_array_insert_into_terminal_node function in lib/assoc_array.c in the Linux kernel before 4.5.3 does not check whether a slot is a…

published 2016-11-16 9 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-8763

cvss
5.5
version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
2.0%
EPSS 2.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 81%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The assoc_array_insert_into_terminal_node function in lib/assoc_array.c in the Linux kernel before 4.5.3 does not check whether a slot is a leaf, which allows local users to obtain sensitive information from kernel memory or cause a denial of service (invalid pointer dereference and out-of-bounds read) via an application that uses associative-array data structures, as demonstrated by the keyutils test suite.

Patch / fix

  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.5.3-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-7914

  • linux Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.13.0-129.178
  • linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-24.43
  • linux-raspi2 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1012.16
  • linux-lts-vivid Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.19.0-61.69~14.04.1
  • linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-24.43~14.04.1
  • linux-snapdragon Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1015.18

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-7914

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-2016:2574

  • kernel-ec2 SLE Module for Public Cloud 12 3.12.61-52.66.1
  • kernel-ec2 SLE Module for Public Cloud 12 3.12.69-60.64.29.1
  • kernel-xen SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES 12 SP1, SLED 12 SP1 3.12.69-60.64.29.1
  • kernel-syms SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES 12 SP1, SLED 12 SP1 3.12.69-60.64.29.1
  • kernel-source SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES 12 SP1, SLED 12 SP1 3.12.69-60.64.29.1
  • kernel-default SLES for SAP 12 SP1, SLES 12 SP1, SLED 12 SP1 +1 more 3.12.69-60.64.29.1
  • kernel-obs-build SLE Software Development Kit 12 SP1 3.12.69-60.64.29.1
  • kernel-rt SLE Real Time 12 SP1 3.12.69-60.30.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2017:0471-1SUSE-SU-2017:0464-1SUSE-SU-2017:0407-1

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-2016-7914 updated cvss 6.2

kernel: assoc_array: don't call compare_object() on a node

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 kernel-rt, kernel-rt-kvm, kernel-rt-trace, kernel-rt-debug-kvm, kernel-rt-trace-kvm 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 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
    +2 more products
    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 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

Exploit prediction

2.03% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 81% 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:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
NVD 2.0 7.1 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:N/A:N

Classification

Weakness
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.