CVE-2016-9604
This allows root to bypass module signature verification by adding a new public key of its own devising to the keyring.
Does this matter?
Lower severity and a low EPSS score (0.27%). Track it; it rarely justifies an emergency change on its own.
Description
It was discovered in the Linux kernel before 4.11-rc8 that root can gain direct access to an internal keyring, such as '.dns_resolver' in RHEL-7 or '.builtin_trusted_keys' upstream, by joining it as its session keyring. This allows root to bypass module signature verification by adding a new public key of its own devising to the keyring.
- CVSS 3.0
- 4.4 MEDIUMCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
- EPSS
- 0.27% probability · 19th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-732, CWE-347
- Affected
- linux/linux kernel
- Source
- secalert@redhat.com
EPSS 0.3% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- http://people.canonical.com/~ubuntu-security/cve/2016/CVE-2016-9604.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102135Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:1842Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2077Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2669Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1035576Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2016-9604Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=ee8f844e3c5a73b999edf733df1c529d6503ec2fPatch, Vendor Advisory
- http://people.canonical.com/~ubuntu-security/cve/2016/CVE-2016-9604.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/102135Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:1842Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2077Third Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2669Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1035576Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2016-9604Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=ee8f844e3c5a73b999edf733df1c529d6503ec2fPatch, Vendor Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.