# CVE-2016-8666: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service via stack consumption and panic in the Linux kernel IP stack by triggering the GRO path with tunnel stacking.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Oct 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-8666, GHSA-59g9-3m7p-ch4f, RHSA-2017:0004, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-8666

## What is CVE-2016-8666?

CVE-2016-8666 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Oct 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The IP stack in the Linux kernel before 4.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack consumption and panic) or possibly have unspecified other impact by triggering use of the GRO path for packets with tunnel stacking, as demonstrated by interleaved IPv4 headers and GRE headers, a related issue to CVE-2016-7039.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-8666?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `kernel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-abi-whitelists` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-debug` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-debug-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-debug-devel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-devel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-doc` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-headers` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-tools` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-tools-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-tools-libs` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-tools-libs-devel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `perf` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `perf-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `python-perf` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `python-perf-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::computenode | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-abi-whitelists` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-bootwrapper` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-debug` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-debug-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-debug-devel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-devel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-doc` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-headers` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-kdump` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-kdump-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-kdump-devel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.el7 |
| `kernel-tools` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-tools-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-tools-libs` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `kernel-tools-libs-devel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |
| `perf` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:7.1::server | All versions | 0:3.10.0-229.46.1.ael7b |

Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-8666?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-8666 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8666 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-8666 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-8666 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Oct 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-8666 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2016-8666/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8666/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-8666
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8666
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-8666

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8666/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.