CVE-2016-9916

Name: CVE-2016-9916
Creator: NVD / NIST
Published: 2016-12-29T22:59:00.7+00:00
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

MEDIUMCVSS 6.5/10EPSS 0.44%

Last modified Jun 17, 2026

CVE-2016-9916 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 6.5/10 on the CVSS scale. Memory leak in hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.c in QEMU (aka Quick Emulator) allows local privileged guest OS users to cause a denial of service (host memory consumption and possibly QEMU process crash) by leveraging a missing cleanup operation in the proxy backend.. EPSS estimates a 0.44% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

Memory leak in hw/9pfs/9p-proxy.c in QEMU (aka Quick Emulator) allows local privileged guest OS users to cause a denial of service (host memory consumption and possibly QEMU process crash) by leveraging a missing cleanup operation in the proxy backend.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

6.5/10

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

EPSS Probability

0.44%

34.8th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-401

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions	Update
Qemu	Qemu	< 2.8.0	—
Qemu	Qemu	2.8.0	Rc0
Debian	Debian Linux	8.0	—

References

http://git.qemu.org/?p=qemu.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=898ae90a44551d25b8e956fd87372d303c82fe68
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/06/11Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/08/7Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94729Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00007.htmlThird Party Advisory
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/qemu-devel/2016-11/msg03278.htmlPatch, Vendor Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-49Third Party Advisory
http://git.qemu.org/?p=qemu.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=898ae90a44551d25b8e956fd87372d303c82fe68
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/06/11Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/12/08/7Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94729Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00007.htmlThird Party Advisory
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/qemu-devel/2016-11/msg03278.htmlPatch, Vendor Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-49Third Party Advisory

Timeline

Published: Dec 29, 2016
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-9916?

How severe is CVE-2016-9916?

CVE-2016-9916 has a CVSS score of 6.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.44% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2016-9916?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

Are you affected by CVE-2016-9916?

Run a free Strix scan to check your systems for this vulnerability.

Scan your code now

Source: NVD / NIST