CVE-2016-8666: 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…

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

• linux linux kernel3.14 and later · before 3.16.35
• linux linux kernel3.17 and later · before 3.18.47
• linux linux kernel3.19 and later · before 4.1.38
• linux linux kernel4.2 and later · before 4.4.29
• linux linux kernel4.5 and later · before 4.6

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

• CVE-2026-31431crypto: algif_aead - Revert to operating out-of-placeKEV
  90Now
• CVE-2022-0847A flaw was found in the way the "flags" member of the new pipe buffer structure was lacking proper initialization in copy_page_to_iter_pipe…KEV
  89Now
• CVE-2021-22555Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACEKEV
  85Now

Published before and after this one in the same product

• ← EarlierCVE-2016-8658Oct 16, 2016 · Stack-based buffer overflow in the brcmf_cfg80211_start_ap function in drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/brcm80211/brcmfmac/cfg80211.c in the…
  24Monitor
• ← EarlierCVE-2016-8660Oct 16, 2016 · The XFS subsystem in the Linux kernel through 4.8.2 allows local users to cause a denial of service (fdatasync failure and system hang) by…
  22Monitor
• Later →CVE-2016-5195Nov 10, 2016 · 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…KEV
  83Now

Root cause

Code that parses nested structures sets no depth or size limit. A small input can turn into a disproportionate processing load.

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

1function expand(node) {2  return node.children.map(expand);3}

1const MAX_DEPTH = 32;2function expand(node, depth = 0) {3  if (depth > MAX_DEPTH) throw new Error("too deep");4  return node.children.map((c) => expand(c, depth + 1));5}

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.