What is CVE-2016-9685?

CVE-2016-9685 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a Uncontrolled Resource Consumption flaw (CWE-400). CVE-2016-9685 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2016-9685?

CVE-2016-9685 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2016-9685?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2016-9685. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

Is CVE-2016-9685 actively exploited?

CVE-2016-9685 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400)?

The product does not properly control the amount of resources it consumes, leading to exhaustion. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/400.html

CVE-2016-9685

Medium

Multiple memory leaks in error paths in fs/xfs/xfs_attr_list.c in the Linux kernel before 4.5.1 allow local users to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via crafted XFS filesystem operations.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2016-12-28

Last modified 2026-05-06

CVSS version 3.0

Patch available

Awaiting data

CVSS 3.0 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-400

CVE-2016-9685 is a Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability

What is Uncontrolled Resource Consumption?

The product does not properly control the amount of resources it consumes, leading to exhaustion. Learn more on MITRE CWE

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2016-9685 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel.org
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.5.1

Release Notes
Securityfocus
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94593
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:1842
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2077
Red Hat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2669
Red Hat
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1396941

Issue Tracking
Kernel patch commit
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=2e83b79b2d6c78bf1b4aa227938a214dcbddc83f
Patch
Kernel patch commit
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/11/30/1
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/2e83b79b2d6c78bf1b4aa227938a214dcbddc83f
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2016-9685

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.0

Published 2016-12-28

Modified 2026-05-06

KEV No

Patch Awaiting data

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-9685?

CVE-2016-9685 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as an Uncontrolled Resource Consumption flaw (CWE-400) . CVE-2016-9685 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2016-9685?

CVE-2016-9685 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.0). The vector string is CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2016-9685?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2016-9685. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.
Is CVE-2016-9685 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2016-9685 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400)?

The product does not properly control the amount of resources it consumes, leading to exhaustion. View CWE-400 on MITRE CWE →