# CVE-2016-2143: Denial of service in n/a

> Local attackers can crash the system on s390 Linux kernels via a crafted application due to improper page-table handling during fork.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Apr 2016
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-2143, GHSA-h8j9-2jj6-73jj

## What is CVE-2016-2143?

CVE-2016-2143 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 27 Apr 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The fork implementation in the Linux kernel before 4.5 on s390 platforms mishandles the case of four page-table levels, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted application, related to arch/s390/include/asm/mmu_context.h and arch/s390/include/asm/pgalloc.h.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-2143?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel, Oracle Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-2143?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-2143 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-2143 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-2143 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-2143 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 27 Apr 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-2143 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2143/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2143/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-2143
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-2143
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-2143

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2143/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.