---
title: "CVE-2016-5412\n    | Ubuntu"
description: Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the
  desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.
url: https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5412?format=md
keywords: index, follow
---

# CVE-2016-5412

Publication date 6 August 2016

Last updated 4 July 2026

---

Ubuntu priority

**Medium**

[Why this priority?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#priority )

## Cvss 3 Severity Score

**6.5 · Medium**

[Score breakdown](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5412?format=md#impact-score)

Toggle side navigation

## Description

arch/powerpc/kvm/book3s\_hv\_rmhandlers.S in the Linux kernel through 4.7 on
PowerPC platforms, when CONFIG\_KVM\_BOOK3S\_64\_HV is enabled, allows guest OS
users to cause a denial of service (host OS infinite loop) by making a
H\_CEDE hypercall during the existence of a suspended transaction.

### From the Ubuntu Security Team

It was discovered that the powerpc and powerpc64 hypervisor-mode KVM
implementation in the Linux kernel for did not properly maintain state
about transactional memory. An unprivileged attacker in a guest could cause
a denial of service (CPU lockup) in the host OS.

[Read the notes from the security team](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5412?format=md#notes)

## Status

Show unmaintained releases

| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| linux | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Fixed 4.4.0-38.57 |
| 15.10 wily | Ignored end of life |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not affected |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not affected |
| linux-armadaxp | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not affected |
| linux-aws | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not affected |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-flo | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Ignored end of life |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-gke | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-goldfish | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Ignored end of life |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-grouper | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-hwe | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-hwe-edge | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-linaro-omap | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life |
| linux-linaro-shared | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life |
| linux-linaro-vexpress | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life |
| linux-lts-quantal | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life |
| linux-lts-raring | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life |
| linux-lts-saucy | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life |
| linux-lts-trusty | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not affected |
| linux-lts-utopic | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-lts-vivid | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-lts-wily | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-lts-xenial | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Fixed 4.4.0-38.57~14.04.1 |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-maguro | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-mako | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Ignored end of life |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-manta | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Ignored end of life |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-qcm-msm | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life |
| linux-raspi2 | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Fixed 4.4.0-1023.29 |
| 15.10 wily | Ignored end of life |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-snapdragon | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Fixed 4.4.0-1026.29 |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release |
| linux-ti-omap4 | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release |
| 15.10 wily | Not in release |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
| 12.04 LTS precise | Not affected |

---

* [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)
* [What do statuses mean?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#statuses)
* [Patch details](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5412?format=md#patch-details)

## Notes

---

### [jdstrand](https://launchpad.net/~jdstrand)

android kernels (flo, goldfish, grouper, maguro, mako and manta) are
not supported on the Ubuntu Touch 14.10 and earlier preview kernels
linux-lts-saucy no longer receives official support
linux-lts-quantal no longer receives official support

### Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security)

| Package | Patch details |
| --- | --- |
| linux | * Introduced by   [e4e3812](https://git.kernel.org/linus/e4e38121507a27d2ccc4b28d9e7fc4818a12c44c),   fixed by   [f024ee0](https://git.kernel.org/linus/f024ee098476a3e620232e4a78cfac505f121245) * Introduced by   [e4e3812](https://git.kernel.org/linus/e4e38121507a27d2ccc4b28d9e7fc4818a12c44c),   fixed by   [93d1739](https://git.kernel.org/linus/93d17397e4e2182fdaad503e2f9da46202c0f1c3) |

## Severity score breakdown

CVSS version:
CVSS v3.0

**Base score**

6.5 · Medium

* Base metrics

  | Parameter | Value |
  | --- | --- |
  | Attack vector | Local |
  | Attack complexity | Low |
  | Privileges required | Low |
  | User interaction | None |
  | Scope | Changed |
  | Confidentiality impact | None |
  | Integrity impact | None |
  | Availability impact | High |
* Scores

  | Parameter | Value |
  | --- | --- |
  | Base score | 6.5 · Medium |
  | Exploitability score | - |
  | Impact score | - |

**Vector:** CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

## References

* [MITRE](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2016-5412)
* [NVD](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-5412)
* [Launchpad](https://launchpad.net/bugs/cve/CVE-2016-5412)
* [Debian](https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-5412)

### Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

+ [USN-3084-3](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-3084-3)
+ Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi 2) vulnerabilities
+ 19 September 2016

+ [USN-3084-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-3084-1)
+ Linux kernel vulnerabilities
+ 19 September 2016

+ [USN-3084-4](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-3084-4)
+ Linux kernel (Qualcomm Snapdragon) vulnerabilities
+ 19 September 2016

+ [USN-3084-2](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-3084-2)
+ Linux kernel (Xenial HWE) vulnerabilities
+ 19 September 2016

### Other references

* <https://marc.info/?l=kvm&m=146968629127349&w=2>
* <http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2016/q3/181>
* <https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-5412>
