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CVE-2016-7545 Redhat CVE debrief

CVE-2016-7545 is a local SELinux policycoreutils issue where a crafted TIOCSTI ioctl call can let an attacker run arbitrary commands outside the intended sandbox boundary. NVD assigns a HIGH severity score, and the weakness is categorized as improper access control (CWE-284). The CVE was published on 2017-01-19, with earlier discussion and patch references appearing in September 2016 and vendor advisories later linking affected Red Hat and Fedora builds.

Vendor
Redhat
Product
CVE-2016-7545
CVSS
HIGH 8.8
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-01-19
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-01-19
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Linux administrators, SELinux users, and teams running Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, or other systems that rely on SELinux policycoreutils for confinement. It is most relevant on multi-user systems or environments where local accounts are present.

Technical summary

NVD describes the flaw as allowing local users to execute arbitrary commands outside the sandbox through a crafted TIOCSTI ioctl call. The CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H) indicates a local attack requiring limited privileges but with broad impact if successfully abused. NVD’s affected CPEs include selinux_project:selinux and several Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora 25 entries.

Defensive priority

High. Treat this as a significant local privilege-boundary escape for systems that expose SELinux policycoreutils or affected downstream packages. Prioritize remediation on multi-user systems, shared hosts, bastions, and infrastructure where local users are not fully trusted.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Confirm whether your distribution’s SELinux policycoreutils package includes the fix referenced by the SELinuxProject commit acca96a135a4d2a028ba9b636886af99c0915379.
  • Apply the vendor advisories referenced by NVD for affected Red Hat systems (RHSA-2016-2702, RHSA-2017-0535, RHSA-2017-0536).
  • Review systems with local user access first, since the attack vector is local and requires limited privileges.
  • Validate that Fedora and Red Hat-based fleets are on builds that include the referenced patch before relying on SELinux sandboxing for isolation.
  • Track the NVD and CVE records for post-publication updates; the supplied NVD entry was last modified on 2026-05-13T00:24:29.033Z.

Evidence notes

All claims above are grounded in the supplied NVD record and linked references. The NVD record for CVE-2016-7545 states a local attack via crafted TIOCSTI ioctl, with CVSS 3.0 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H and CWE-284. The record lists affected CPEs for SELinux Project, Fedora 25, and multiple Red Hat Enterprise Linux variants. The source corpus also includes an oss-security mailing list post dated 2016-09-25 and a SELinuxProject GitHub commit identified as a patch reference.

Official resources

CVE published: 2017-01-19T20:59:00.533Z. The underlying issue was publicly discussed in the supplied corpus on 2016-09-25 and patched in a referenced SELinuxProject commit before later NVD modifications (last modified 2026-05-13T00:24:29.03