Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2016-8669

The serial_update_parameters function in hw/char/serial.c in QEMU (aka Quick Emulator) allows local guest OS administrators to cause a denial of service (divide-by-zero error and QEMU process crash) via vectors involving a value of divider greater than baud base.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.0, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction . The vulnerability impacts and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 6 products from qemu, from opensuse, from redhat and 3 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2016, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2016-11-04T21:59:06.350

Last Modified

2025-04-12T10:46:40.837

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 6.0 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: NONE
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

3.9

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-369

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	qemu	qemu	≤ 2.7.1	Yes
Operating System	opensuse	leap	42.2	Yes
Application	redhat	openstack	6.0	Yes
Application	redhat	openstack	7.0	Yes
Application	redhat	openstack	8	Yes
Application	redhat	openstack	9	Yes
Application	redhat	openstack	10	Yes
Application	redhat	openstack	11	Yes
Application	redhat	virtualization	4.0	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux	7.0	No
Operating System	debian	debian_linux	8.0	Yes

References

http://git.qemu.org/?p=qemu.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=3592fe0c919cf27a81d8e9f9b4f269553418bb01 ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-12/msg00140.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/14/9 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/15/5 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93563 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2392 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2408 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00007.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201611-11 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://git.qemu.org/?p=qemu.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=3592fe0c919cf27a81d8e9f9b4f269553418bb01 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2016-12/msg00140.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/14/9 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/10/15/5 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93563 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2392 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2408 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00007.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201611-11 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For qemu's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.