Is CVE-2016-5195 being actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2016-5195 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added on March 3, 2022.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2016-5195?

CVE-2016-5195 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.0 (HIGH).

CVE-2016-5195

HIGH · CVSS 7.0CISA KEV: actively exploitedEPSS 83.5%EU EUVD: exploited

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 handling of a copy-on-write (COW) feature to write to a read-only memory mapping, as exploited in the wild in October 2016, aka "Dirty COW."

Key facts

CVSS score: 7.0 (v3.1)
Severity: HIGH
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE): CWE-362
EPSS score: 83.5% (100th percentile)
In CISA KEV: Yes, added March 3, 2022
In EU EUVD: Yes (EUVD-2016-6146)
Published: November 10, 2016
NVD last modified: June 17, 2026
Status: Analyzed

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Linux Kernel Race Condition Vulnerability

Added to the KEV catalog on March 3, 2022; federal remediation due March 24, 2022.

EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD)

This vulnerability is also tracked by ENISA as EUVD-2016-6146 in the EU Vulnerability Database. ENISA flags it as known exploited. Last updated in EUVD on November 4, 2025.

View on the EU Vulnerability Database

Affected products

canonical / ubuntu linux
canonical / ubuntu linux
canonical / ubuntu linux
canonical / ubuntu linux
debian / debian linux
debian / debian linux
fedoraproject / fedora
fedoraproject / fedora
fedoraproject / fedora
linux / linux kernel
netapp / cloud backup
netapp / hci storage nodes
netapp / oncommand balance
netapp / oncommand performance manager
netapp / oncommand unified manager for clustered data ontap
netapp / ontap select deploy administration utility
netapp / snapprotect
netapp / solidfire
paloaltonetworks / pan-os
redhat / enterprise linux
redhat / enterprise linux
redhat / enterprise linux
redhat / enterprise linux aus
redhat / enterprise linux aus
redhat / enterprise linux aus
redhat / enterprise linux eus
redhat / enterprise linux eus
redhat / enterprise linux eus
redhat / enterprise linux long life
redhat / enterprise linux long life
redhat / enterprise linux tus

Certified products that may be affected

6 FIPS 140 or Common Criteria certified products, from automated matching by sec-certs.org.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 OpenSSH-Server Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1384 - historical
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 OpenSSH Client Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1385 - historical
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 OpenSwan Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1386 - historical
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Kernel Crypto API Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1387 - historical
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 OpenSSL Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 1320 - historical

See all 6 in the Security Certifications Explorer.

References

http://fortiguard.com/advisory/FG-IR-16-063(Third Party Advisory)
http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=19be0eaffa3ac7d8eb6784ad9bdbc7d67ed8e619(Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory)
http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10770(Third Party Advisory)
http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10774(Third Party Advisory)
http://kb.juniper.net/InfoCenter/index?page=content&id=JSA10807(Third Party Advisory)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00034.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00035.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00036.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00038.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00039.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00040.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00045.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00048.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00049.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00050.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00051.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00052.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00053.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00054.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00055.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00056.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00057.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00058.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00063.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00064.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00065.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00066.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00067.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-10/msg00072.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00033.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-12/msg00100.html(Mailing List)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00041.html(Third Party Advisory)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139277/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0012-1.html(Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139286/DirtyCow-Linux-Kernel-Race-Condition.html(Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139287/DirtyCow-Local-Root-Proof-Of-Concept.html(Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139922/Linux-Kernel-Dirty-COW-PTRACE_POKEDATA-Privilege-Escalation.html(Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139923/Linux-Kernel-Dirty-COW-PTRACE_POKEDATA-Privilege-Escalation.html(Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/142151/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0021-1.html(Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry)
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2098.html(Third Party Advisory)
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2105.html(Third Party Advisory)

Last updated September 17, 2026 · Source: NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS

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