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CVE-2016-3138

18
FAUCET Score

CVE-2016-3138 is a denial-of-service vulnerability affecting the Linux kernel (before version 4.5.1), specifically within the acm_probe function of the cdc-acm.c driver. This flaw allows a physically proximate attacker to trigger a NULL pointer dereference and system crash by connecting a specially crafted USB device lacking both control and data endpoint descriptors. Rated Medium (CVSS 4.6), exploitation requires physical access and results in high availability impact. There is no evidence of active exploitation, public exploit code, or significant community discussion surrounding this CVE.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
<= 4.5.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
12.04CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
11.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:11.0:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
12.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
12.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:novell:suse_linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12.0:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.0

4.6MEDIUM

CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector
PHYSICAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
0.9
Impact Score
3.6
CvssVersion
3.0

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
0.55%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
42.5%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-26
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0055 is in the 81st percentile among its peer group of 1,531 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.1 Bluesky, 0.0 Mastodon, and 0.1 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.2 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Vendor Patches (5)

redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5Fixed in: kernel
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Fixed in: kernel
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: kernel
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: kernel-rt
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2Fixed in: realtime-kernel

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2016-3138Low

kernel: Crash on invalid USB device descriptors (cdc_acm driver)

Mar 9, 2016

References

git.kernel.org / cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-05/msg00060.html
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00052.html
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00054.html
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00056.html
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00059.html
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00005.html
lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2016-08/msg00038.html
bugzilla.redhat.com / show_bug.cgi
github.com / torvalds/linux/commit/8835ba4a39cf53f705417b3b3a94eb067673f2c9
debian.org / security/2016/dsa-3607
kernel.org / pub/linux/kernel/v4.x/ChangeLog-4.5.1
openwall.com / lists/oss-security/2016/03/14/4
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2968-1
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2968-2
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2969-1
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2970-1
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2971-1
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2971-2
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2971-3
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2996-1
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2997-1