What is CVE-2016-4440?

CVE-2016-4440 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, classified as a Permissions, Privileges and Access Control flaw (CWE-264). CVE-2016-4440 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2016-4440?

CVE-2016-4440 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2016-4440?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2016-4440. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

Is CVE-2016-4440 actively exploited?

CVE-2016-4440 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Permissions, Privileges and Access Control (CWE-264)?

Weaknesses in this category are related to the management of permissions, privileges, and access controls. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/264.html

CVE-2016-4440

High

arch/x86/kvm/vmx.c in the Linux kernel through 4.6.3 mishandles the APICv on/off state, which allows guest OS users to obtain direct APIC MSR access on the host OS, and consequently cause a denial of service (host OS crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code on the host OS, via x2APIC mode.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2016-06-27

Last modified 2026-05-06

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Awaiting data

CVSS 3.1 score

7.8

out of 10

High

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-264

CVE-2016-4440 is a Permissions, Privileges and Access Control vulnerability

What is Permissions, Privileges and Access Control?

Weaknesses in this category are related to the management of permissions, privileges, and access controls. Learn more on MITRE CWE

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2016-4440 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Openwall
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/05/20/2

Mailing List
Red Hat
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1337806

Issue Tracking
Kernel patch commit
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=3ce424e45411cf5a13105e0386b6ecf6eeb4f66f
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/3ce424e45411cf5a13105e0386b6ecf6eeb4f66f
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2016-4440

Severity High

CVSS score 7.8 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2016-06-27

Modified 2026-05-06

KEV No

Patch Awaiting data

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-4440?

CVE-2016-4440 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 , classified as a Permissions, Privileges and Access Control flaw (CWE-264) . CVE-2016-4440 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2016-4440?

CVE-2016-4440 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2016-4440?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2016-4440. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.
Is CVE-2016-4440 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2016-4440 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is Permissions, Privileges and Access Control (CWE-264)?

Weaknesses in this category are related to the management of permissions, privileges, and access controls. View CWE-264 on MITRE CWE →