How severe is CVE-2016-8666?

CVE-2016-8666 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2016-8666 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 5% (91st percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2016-8666?

CVE-2016-8666 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2016-8666?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2016-8666 published?

CVE-2016-8666 was published on 2016-10-16 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2016-8666

CVE-2016-8666 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-400.

Key facts

Severity: High (CVSS 3.x base score 7.5)
CVSS v2: 7.8
EPSS exploit prediction: 5% (91st percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-400
Affected product: Linux Linux Kernel
Published: 2016-10-16
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

The IP stack in the Linux kernel before 4.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack consumption and panic) or possibly have unspecified other impact by triggering use of the GRO path for packets with tunnel stacking, as demonstrated by interleaved IPv4 headers and GRE headers, a related issue to CVE-2016-7039.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-8666?: The IP stack in the Linux kernel before 4.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack consumption and panic) or possibly have unspecified other impact by triggering use of the GRO path for packets with tunnel stacking, as demonstrated by interleaved IPv4 headers and GRE headers, a related issue to CVE-2016-7039.
How severe is CVE-2016-8666?: CVE-2016-8666 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2016-8666 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 5% (91st percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2016-8666?: CVE-2016-8666 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2016-8666?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2016-8666 published?: CVE-2016-8666 was published on 2016-10-16 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Linux Linux Kernel

CVE-2023-2163 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Incorrect verifier pruning in BPF in Linux Kernel >=5.4 leads to unsafe code paths being incorrectly marked as safe,…
CVE-2015-8104 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The KVM subsystem in the Linux kernel through 4.2.6, and Xen 4.3.x through 4.6.x, allows guest OS users to cause a…
CVE-2015-1421 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Use-after-free vulnerability in the sctp_assoc_update function in net/sctp/associola.c in the Linux kernel before…
CVE-2014-2523 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_dccp.c in the Linux kernel through 3.13.6 uses a DCCP header pointer incorrectly,…
CVE-2010-2495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The pppol2tp_xmit function in drivers/net/pppol2tp.c in the L2TP implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does…
CVE-2010-2521 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Multiple buffer overflows in fs/nfsd/nfs4xdr.c in the XDR implementation in the NFS server in the Linux kernel before…

All CVEs affecting Linux Linux Kernel →

Other CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-46775 — Critical (CVSS 9.9): Vulnerability in Oracle REST Data Services (component: Core). Supported versions that are affected are 24.2.0-26.1.0.…
CVE-2025-61303 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Hatching Triage Sandbox Windows 10 build 2004 (2025-08-14) and Windows 10 LTSC 2021(2025-08-14) contains a…
CVE-2025-43193 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.6, macOS Sonoma 14.7.7,…
CVE-2025-24269 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.4. An app may be able to…
CVE-2025-24264 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in Safari 18.4, iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4,…
CVE-2025-24260 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. This issue is fixed in macOS Sequoia 15.4, macOS Sonoma 14.7.5,…

Browse all CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) vulnerabilities →