Race condition in net/packet/af_packet.c in the Linux kernel through 4.8.12 allows local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (use-after-free) by leveraging the CAP_NET_RAW capability to change a socket version, related to the packet_set_ring and packet_setsockopt functions.
CVE-2016-8655
Score 7.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-14. NVD baseline CVSS 7.8; sources differ by 0.0.
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 7.8
- EG Score
- 7.8(medium)
- EG Risk
- 66(Track)EG Risk 66/100SSVC: 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 computedSeverity78% × 45%Exploitation65% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS
- 95.5%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
December 8, 2016
Last Modified
May 6, 2026
References (68)
- secalert@redhathttp://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=84ac7260236a49c79eede91617700174c2c19b0c
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00044.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00054.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00055.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00056.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00067.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00070.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00073.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00076.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00077.html
- secalert@redhathttp://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00087.html
- secalert@redhathttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140063/Linux-Kernel-4.4.0-AF_PACKET-Race-Condition-Privilege-Escalation.html
- secalert@redhathttp://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0386.html
- secalert@redhathttp://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0387.html
- secalert@redhathttp://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0402.html
Patch Availability(13)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | linux-image-extra-4.4.0-53-generic (4.4.0-53.74) @ xenial | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-omap (3.2.0.118.133) @ precise | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-4.4.0-1034-raspi2 (4.4.0-1034.41) @ xenial | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-4.4.0-1039-snapdragon (4.4.0-1039.43) @ xenial | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-extra-4.4.0-53-generic (4.4.0-53.74~14.04.1) @ trusty | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-3.13.0-105-generic-lpae (3.13.0-105.152~precise1) @ precise | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-extra-3.13.0-105-generic (3.13.0-105.152) @ trusty | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-raspi2 (4.8.0.1020.23) @ yakkety | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-4.8.0-30-powerpc64-emb (4.8.0-30.32) @ yakkety | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | linux-image-omap4 (3.2.0.1496.91) @ precise | 2026-05-22 | ubuntu |
| redhat | kernel-rt-1:3.10.0-514.rt56.215.el6rt | 2017-03-02 | redhat |
| redhat | kernel-rt-0:3.10.0-514.10.2.rt56.435.el7 | 2017-03-02 | redhat |
| redhat | kernel-0:3.10.0-514.10.2.el7 | 2017-03-02 | redhat |
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.
All Vendor Advisories
(13)
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.
- Red HatRHSA-2017:0386IMPORTANT2016-12-06
RHSA-2017:0386 — Important
- Red HatRHSA-2017:0387IMPORTANT2016-12-06
RHSA-2017:0387 — Important
- Red HatRHSA-2017:0402IMPORTANT2016-12-06
RHSA-2017:0402 — Important
- UbuntuUSN-3149-1HIGH
Linux kernel vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-3149-2HIGH
Linux kernel (Trusty HWE) vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-3150-1HIGH
Linux kernel vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-3150-2HIGH
Linux kernel (OMAP4) vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-3151-1HIGH
Linux kernel vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-3151-2HIGH
Linux kernel (Xenial HWE) vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-3151-3HIGH
Linux kernel (Qualcomm Snapdragon) vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-3151-4HIGH
Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi 2) vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-3152-1HIGH
Linux kernel vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-3152-2HIGH
Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi 2) vulnerability
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 14× in last 7d / 41× 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.
- 2026-07-24 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-23 01:24 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 22:03 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-21 15:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-18 10:00 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-18 10:00 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-13 22:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-12 05:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-12 05:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-12 05:39 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-11 08:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-09 19:06 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 71 moreShow fewer
- 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-07 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 16:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-29 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:53 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 11:58 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:41 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:38 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-24 16:44 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-22 17:46 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-22 17:46 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-22 17:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 22:37 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-20 11:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-18 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
Publicly available exploits
(6 references)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (2 GitHub PoCs) (3 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Exploit-DBEDB-47170First seen Dec 29, 2018
Linux Kernel 4.4.0-21 < 4.4.0-51 (Ubuntu 14.04/16.04 x64) - 'AF_PACKET' Race Condition Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗ - Exploit-DBEDB-44696✓ verifiedFirst seen May 22, 2018
Linux 4.4.0 < 4.4.0-53 - 'AF_PACKET chocobo_root' Local Privilege Escalation (Metasploit)
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCmartinmullins/CVE-2016-8655_AndroidFirst seen Dec 17, 2016
Android attempt at PoC CVE-2016-8655
Open source ↗ - Open source ↗GitHub PoCLakshmiDesai/CVE-2016-8655First seen Dec 8, 2016
- Exploit-DBEDB-40871✓ verifiedFirst seen Dec 6, 2016
Linux Kernel 4.4.0 (Ubuntu 14.04/16.04 x86-64) - 'AF_PACKET' Race Condition Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗ - Metasploitexploit/linux/local/af_packet_chocobo_root_priv_esc✓ verifiedFirst seen Aug 12, 2016
AF_PACKET chocobo_root Privilege Escalation
Open source ↗
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2016-8655?
When was CVE-2016-8655 disclosed?
Is CVE-2016-8655 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-8655?
How do I remediate CVE-2016-8655?
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2016-8655
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