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CVE-2016-5195

Race condition in mm/gup.c in the Linux kernel 2.x through 4.x before 4.8.3 allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging incorrect…

High7.0Known exploitedPublic exploitEPSS 83.5%
Published
Updated
Reserved
Assigned by
Chrome

Description

Race condition in mm/gup.c in the Linux kernel 2.x through 4.x before 4.8.3 allows local users to gain privileges by leveraging incorrect handling of a copy-on-write (COW) feature to write to a read-only memory mapping, as exploited in the wild in October 2016, aka "Dirty COW."

Exploited in the wild

CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Linux Kernel Race Condition Vulnerability.

Added
3 Mar 2022
Fix due (US federal)
24 Mar 2022
Used by ransomware
Not known

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public exploit

4 references of the record are tagged as an exploit or proof of concept: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.

Timeline

  1. ID reserved

    By Chrome

  2. · 5 months later

    Published

  3. · 5 years later

    Added to CISA KEV

    Known exploited in the wild

  4. · 4 years later

    Record updated

Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.

Scores

CVSS scores of CVE-2016-5195, by who scored it
Scored byCVSSScoreVector
CISA-ADPADP (enrichment)3.1High7.0CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVDNVD · Analyzed3.1High7.0CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
83.5% · top 0.3% of all CVEs (8 Nov 2026)
CISA SSVC
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
Loading the EPSS history…

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.0.

Weakness

Affected products

  • n/a

    • affected n/a

References (128)

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

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Record last updated .