How severe is CVE-2016-9915?

CVE-2016-9915 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2016-9915 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (35th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2016-9915?

CVE-2016-9915 primarily affects Qemu. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2016-9915?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2016-9915 published?

CVE-2016-9915 was published on 2016-12-29 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2016-9915

CVE-2016-9915 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Qemu with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5. 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-401.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.5)
CVSS v2: 4.9
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (35th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-401
Affected product: Qemu
Published: 2016-12-29
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

Memory leak in hw/9pfs/9p-handle.c in QEMU (aka Quick Emulator) allows local privileged guest OS users to cause a denial of service (host memory consumption and possibly QEMU process crash) by leveraging a missing cleanup operation in the handle backend.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-9915?: Memory leak in hw/9pfs/9p-handle.c in QEMU (aka Quick Emulator) allows local privileged guest OS users to cause a denial of service (host memory consumption and possibly QEMU process crash) by leveraging a missing cleanup operation in the handle backend.
How severe is CVE-2016-9915?: CVE-2016-9915 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2016-9915 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (35th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2016-9915?: CVE-2016-9915 primarily affects Qemu. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2016-9915?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2016-9915 published?: CVE-2016-9915 was published on 2016-12-29 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (4)

cpe:2.3:a:qemu:qemu:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:qemu:qemu:2.8.0:rc0:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:qemu:qemu:2.8.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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