CVE-2016-0728

HIGHNVD 7.87.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 7.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-17. NVD baseline CVSS 7.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Elevated
7.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 4%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: Elevated riskExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

The join_session_keyring function in security/keys/process_keys.c in the Linux kernel before 4.4.1 mishandles object references in a certain error case, which allows local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (integer overflow and use-after-free) via crafted keyctl commands.

CVSS v3
7.8
EG Score
7.8(medium)
EG Risk
56(Track)
EG Risk 56/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity78% × 45%
Exploitation40% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
4%
EPSS %ILE
89%
KEV
Not listed

Published

February 8, 2016

Last Modified

June 17, 2026

References (84)

Patch Availability(12)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntulinux-image-3.13.0-76-generic-lpae (3.13.0-76.120~precise1) @ precise2026-05-22ubuntu
ubuntulinux-image-extra-3.16.0-59-generic (3.16.0-59.79~14.04.1) @ trusty2026-05-22ubuntu
ubuntulinux-image-extra-4.2.0-25-generic (4.2.0-25.30~14.04.1) @ trusty2026-05-22ubuntu
ubuntulinux-image-4.2.0-1020-raspi2 (4.2.0-1020.27) @ wily2026-05-22ubuntu
ubuntulinux-image-extra-3.19.0-47-generic (3.19.0-47.53~14.04.1) @ trusty2026-05-22ubuntu
ubuntulinux-image-3.19.0-47-generic-lpae (3.19.0-47.53) @ vivid2026-05-22ubuntu
ubuntulinux-image-extra-3.13.0-76-generic (3.13.0-76.120) @ trusty2026-05-22ubuntu
ubuntulinux-image-4.2.0-25-generic (4.2.0-25.30) @ wily2026-05-22ubuntu
redhatkernel-0:3.10.0-229.26.2.ael7b2016-02-02redhat
redhatkernel-rt-1:3.10.0-327.rt56.170.el6rt2016-01-26redhat
redhatkernel-0:3.10.0-327.4.5.el72016-01-25redhat
redhatkernel-rt-0:3.10.0-327.4.5.rt56.206.el7_22016-01-25redhat

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Affected Packages

(5 across 5 ecosystems)
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
linux—4.3.3-6—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
linux—4.3.3-6—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
linux—4.3.3-6—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
linux—4.3.3-6—
Debian:8(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
linux3.16.7-ckt11-1 ... 3.16.7-ckt9-3~deb8u1~bpo70+1 (22 versions)3.16.7-ckt20-1+deb8u3—

All Vendor Advisories

(12)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 6× in last 7d / 27× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 118 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-08-20 22:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-08-19 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-18 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-08-16 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-08-16 02:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-08-15 01:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-08-14 13:54 UTCOSV refresh
  8. 2026-08-12 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-08-11 13:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-08-09 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-08-08 16:32 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-08-07 16:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-08-06 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-08-05 19:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-08-04 15:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-08-04 10:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-08-01 04:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-07-30 02:24 UTCOSV refresh
  19. 2026-07-30 01:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-30 01:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-28 15:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-26 14:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-25 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-24 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-23 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-07-23 01:20 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-07-23 00:22 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-07-22 22:00 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-07-22 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-20 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-19 14:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-19 14:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-18 10:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-15 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-07-13 22:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-07-13 22:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-07-12 11:38 UTCOSV refresh
  20. 2026-07-12 05:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-11 08:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-09 19:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-09 19:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-07-05 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-06-28 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-06-23 17:20 UTCOSV refresh
  45. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  53. 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  57. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  58. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  59. 2026-06-10 22:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  60. 2026-06-10 13:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  61. 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  62. 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-06-06 23:29 UTCOSV refresh
  64. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  66. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  68. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  69. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  70. 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  71. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-06-01 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  74. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  75. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(6 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (4 GitHub PoCs) (2 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoCbittorrent3389/cve-2016-0728
    First seen Mar 15, 2016

    a exploit for cve-2016-0728

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCneuschaefer/cve-2016-0728-testbed
    First seen Jan 28, 2016

    A testbed for CVE-2016-0728, a refcount leak/overflow bug in Linux

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCnardholio/cve-2016-0728
    First seen Jan 22, 2016
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCkennetham/cve_2016_0728
    First seen Jan 20, 2016

    CVE-2016-0728 Linux Kernel Vulnerability

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-39277
    First seen Jan 19, 2016

    Linux Kernel 4.4.1 - REFCOUNT Overflow Use-After-Free in Keyrings Local Privilege Escalation (1)

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-40003
    First seen Jan 19, 2016

    Linux Kernel 4.4.1 - REFCOUNT Overflow Use-After-Free in Keyrings Local Privilege Escalation (2)

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2016-0728?
CVE-2016-0728 is a high vulnerability published on February 8, 2016. The joinsessionkeyring function in security/keys/process_keys.c in the Linux kernel before 4.4.1 mishandles object references in a certain error case, which allows local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (integer overflow and use-after-free) via crafted keyctl commands.
When was CVE-2016-0728 disclosed?
CVE-2016-0728 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on February 8, 2016, with the most recent update on June 17, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2016-0728 actively exploited?
CVE-2016-0728 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 11.3% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-0728?
CVE-2016-0728 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2016-0728?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2016-0728, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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