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Findings

CVE-2016-5195

Linux Kernel Race Condition Vulnerability

Published Nov 10, 2016 · updated Jun 16, 2026 · canonical ubuntu linux

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."

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Nov 10, 2016 · Catalog

    Detected

    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."

  2. Mar 3, 2022 · CISA KEV

    Known exploited

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  3. Mar 24, 2022 · CISA KEV

    Remediation due

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  4. Jun 16, 2026 · Catalog

    Updated

    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."

Required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

CISA due date Mar 24, 2022

Affected

  • cpe canonical/ubuntu linux12.04
  • cpe canonical/ubuntu linux14.04
  • cpe canonical/ubuntu linux16.04
  • cpe canonical/ubuntu linux16.10
  • cpe debian/debian linux7.0
  • cpe fedoraproject/fedora23
  • cpe linux/linux kernelversion unspecified
  • cpe paloaltonetworks/pan-osversion unspecified
  • cpe redhat/enterprise linux5
  • vendor Linux Kernelversion unspecified

Sources

  • CISA KEVCVE-2016-5195

    Race condition in mm/gup.c in the Linux kernel allows local users to escalate privileges.

    cisa.gov
  • CVE.orgCVE-2016-5195

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSCVE-2016-5195

    30-day exploitation probability 83.5%

    first.org
  • Exploit Database40616

    Public archive entry. The exploit body is not stored here.

    exploit-db.com
  • Exploit Database40838

    Public archive entry. The exploit body is not stored here.

    exploit-db.com
  • Exploit Database40847

    Public archive entry. The exploit body is not stored here.

    exploit-db.com
  • NIST NVDCVE-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 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."

    nvd.nist.gov

References