drivers/vfio/pci/vfio_pci.c in the Linux kernel through 4.8.11 allows local users to bypass integer overflow checks, and cause a denial of…

published 2016-11-28 9 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2016-9904

cvss: 7.8; version 3.1, 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

drivers/vfio/pci/vfio_pci.c in the Linux kernel through 4.8.11 allows local users to bypass integer overflow checks, and cause a denial of service (memory corruption) or have unspecified other impact, by leveraging access to a vfio PCI device file for a VFIO_DEVICE_SET_IRQS ioctl call, aka a "state machine confusion bug."

Patch / fix

fixed in 1 distros 4 links 3

linux linux_kernel 3.10.107, 3.12.70, 3.16.39, 3.18.51, 4.1.41, 4.4.65, 4.9

debian ubuntu red hat suse

linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 4.8.11-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2016-9083

linux Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.13.0-132.181
linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-79.100
linux-aws Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1018.27
linux-gke Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1014.14
linux-hwe Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.10.0-32.36~16.04.1
linux-raspi2 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1057.64
linux-lts-xenial Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 4.4.0-79.100~14.04.1
linux-snapdragon Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1059.63

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2016-9083

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 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7
kernel-rt-kvm RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7
kernel-rt-trace RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7
kernel-rt-debug-kvm RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7
kernel-rt-trace-kvm RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7
kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 RHEL 7 EXTRAS_RT 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7
kernel RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7
perf RHEL 7 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7

red hat advisories RHSA-2017:0387 RHSA-2017:0386

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-2017:0471-1 SUSE-SU-2017:0464-1 SUSE-SU-2017:0407-1 SUSE-SU-2017:0181-1

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-2016-9083 updated 2026-11-04 cvss 5.3

kernel: State machine confusion bug in vfio driver leading to memory corruption

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time for NFV (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7, kernel-rt-kvm 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7, kernel-rt-trace-kvm 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Realtime (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0387
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-kdump 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, +6 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, kernel-abi-whitelists 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2017:0386
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 MRG 2 kernel-rt, mrg-rt-release, kernel-rt-trace, kernel-rt-vanilla, kernel-rt-firmware
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

0.38% 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	3.1	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-119 Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
CWE-190 Integer Overflow or Wraparound

Technology feeds

Linux kernel rss critical rss

References

git.kernel.org /cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=05692d7005a364add85c6e25a6c4447ce08f913a
issue-tracking, patch, vendor-advisory
github.com /torvalds/linux/commit/05692d7005a364add85c6e25a6c4447ce08f913a
issue-tracking, patch, third-party-advisory
patchwork.kernel.org /patch/9373631/
patch, vendor-advisory
rhn.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017-0387.html
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
rhn.redhat.com /errata/RHSA-2017-0386.html
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
openwall.com /lists/oss-security/2016/10/26/11
mailing-list, third-party-advisory
bugzilla.redhat.com /show_bug.cgi?id=1389258
issue-tracking
securityfocus.com /bid/93929
vdb-entry, third-party-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2016-9083
NVD CVE-2016-9083

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.

Summary