---
id: "CVE-2016-5195"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2016-5195"]
title: "Linux Kernel: Linux Kernel Race Condition Vulnerability"
severity: "high"
cvss: 7.2
epss: 0.83524
exploited: true
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: [{"name": "Linux Kernel", "fixed": [], "affected": "", "ecosystem": "vendor"}]
ecosystems: ["vendor"]
tags: ["exploited", "infrastructure", "linux", "multi-user-servers", "self-hosted", "shared-hosting"]
not_affected_if: ["patched-kernel", "single-user-machine-with-no-local-access"]
published_at: "2016-11-10T21:59:00+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "kev", "url": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2016-5195", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00"}, {"source": "epss", "url": "https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2016-5195", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:13:44+00:00"}, {"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-5195", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00"}]
---

# Linux Kernel: Linux Kernel Race Condition Vulnerability

This is Dirty COW, a race condition in the Linux kernel's memory handling code (mm/gup.c) that lets a local user write to read-only memory. An attacker with a local shell gets root privileges.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Affected

- vendor:Linux Kernel affected ? fixed ?

## How to check

Run uname -r and compare the kernel version against your distribution's security advisory for CVE-2016-5195.

## Fix

Update the kernel to a vendor build that includes the CVE-2016-5195 patch and reboot.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00 kev https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2016-5195
- 2026-10-23T19:13:44+00:00 epss https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2016-5195
- 2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-5195

## From the sources

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."

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_