CVE-2016-2856
8.4 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2016-2856 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting canonical ubuntu_linux. It was published on March 14, 2016 and has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 8.4 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 8.4, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
pt_chown in the glibc package before 2.19-18+deb8u4 on Debian jessie; the elibc package before 2.15-0ubuntu10.14 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and before 2.19-0ubuntu6.8 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS; and the glibc package before 2.21-0ubuntu4.2 on Ubuntu 15.10 and before 2.23-0ubuntu1 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and 16.10 lacks a namespace check associated with file-descriptor passing, which allows local users to capture keystrokes and spoof data, and possibly gain privileges, via pts read and write operations, related to debian/sysdeps/linux.mk. NOTE: this is not considered a vulnerability in the upstream GNU C Library because the upstream documentation has a clear security recommendation against the --enable-pt_chown option.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from canonical. Update ubuntu_linux to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| gnu | glibc | 0 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2016-2856?
CVE-2016-2856 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting canonical ubuntu_linux. It was published on March 14, 2016 and has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 8.4 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2016-2856?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.0 base score of 8.4, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2016-2856?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from canonical. Update ubuntu_linux to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2016-2856?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2016-2856 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
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