CVE-2016-0727
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS,...
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, on Ubuntu Wily, and before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the ntp account to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain privileges via vectors involving statistics directory cleanup.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
7.8
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, on Ubuntu Wily, and before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the ntp account to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain privileges via vectors involving statistics directory cleanup.
- Record
CVE-2016-0727- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.2 High
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-264
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, on Ubuntu Wily, and before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the ntp account to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain privileges via vectors involving statistics directory cleanup.
- Record
CVE-2016-0727- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2016-0756 No score
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, on Ubuntu Wily, and before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the ntp account to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain privileges via vectors involving statistics directory cleanup.
- Record
EUVD-2016-0756- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-c7qx-m9c7-8wm7
7.8
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS,...
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, on Ubuntu Wily, and before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the ntp account to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain privileges via vectors involving statistics directory cleanup.
- Record
GHSA-c7qx-m9c7-8wm7- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
7.8
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, on Ubuntu Wily, and before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the ntp account to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain privileges via vectors involving statistics directory cleanup.
- Record
CVE-2016-0727- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2016-0727
7.8
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, on Ubuntu Wily, and before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the ntp account to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain privileges via vectors involving statistics directory cleanup.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2016-0727- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2016-0727
7.8
The crontab script in the ntp package before 1:4.2.6.p3+dfsg-1ubuntu3.11 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, on Ubuntu Wily, and before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS allows local users with access to the ntp account to write to arbitrary files and consequently gain privileges via vectors involving statistics directory cleanup.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2016-0727- CVSS 3.0
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-3096-1 No score
ntp vulnerabilities
Aanchal Malhotra discovered that NTP incorrectly handled authenticated broadcast mode. A remote attacker could use this issue to perform a replay attack. (CVE-2015-7973)
Matt Street discovered that NTP incorrectly verified peer associations of symmetric keys. A remote attacker could use this issue to perform an impersonation attack. (CVE-2015-7974)
Jonathan Gardner discovered that the NTP ntpq utility incorrectly handled memory. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause ntpq to crash, resulting in a denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. (CVE-2015-7975)
Jonathan Gardner discovered that the NTP ntpq utility incorrectly handled dangerous characters in filenames. An attacker could possibly use this issue to overwrite arbitrary files. (CVE-2015-7976)
Stephen Gray discovered that NTP incorrectly handled large restrict lists. An attacker could use this issue to cause NTP to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2015-7977, CVE-2015-7978)
Aanchal Malhotra discovered that NTP incorrectly handled authenticated broadcast mode. A remote attacker could use this issue to cause NTP to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2015-7979)
Jonathan Gardner discovered that NTP incorrectly handled origin timestamp checks. A remote attacker could use this issue to spoof peer servers. (CVE-2015-8138)
Jonathan Gardner discovered that the NTP ntpq utility did not properly handle certain incorrect values. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause ntpq to hang, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2015-8158)
It was discovered that the NTP cronjob incorrectly cleaned up the statistics directory. A local attacker could possibly use this to escalate privileges. (CVE-2016-0727)
Stephen Gray and Matthew Van Gundy discovered that NTP incorrectly validated crypto-NAKs. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to prevent clients from synchronizing. (CVE-2016-1547)
Miroslav Lichvar and Jonathan Gardner discovered that NTP incorrectly handled switching to interleaved symmetric mode. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to prevent clients from synchronizing. (CVE-2016-1548)
Matthew Van Gundy, Stephen Gray and Loganaden Velvindron discovered that NTP incorrectly handled message authentication. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to recover the message digest key. (CVE-2016-1550)
Yihan Lian discovered that NTP incorrectly handled duplicate IPs on unconfig directives. An authenticated remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause NTP to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2016-2516)
Yihan Lian discovered that NTP incorrectly handled certail peer associations. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause NTP to crash, resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2016-2518)
Jakub Prokes discovered that NTP incorrectly handled certain spoofed packets. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2016-4954)
Miroslav Lichvar discovered that NTP incorrectly handled certain packets when autokey is enabled. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2016-4955)
Miroslav Lichvar discovered that NTP incorrectly handled certain spoofed broadcast packets. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2016-4956)
In the default installation, attackers would be isolated by the NTP AppArmor profile.
- Record
USN-3096-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
ntpDebian:11 |
before 1:4.2.8p9+dfsg-2 | 1:4.2.8p9+dfsg-2 |
ntpUbuntu:14.04:LTS |
before 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10, plus listed versions 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu21:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.11:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.21:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.31:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.51:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.61:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.71:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.8 |
1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu2.14.04.10 |
ntpUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
before 1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3, plus listed versions 1:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu81:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu8.11:4.2.6.p5+dfsg-3ubuntu91:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu11:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu2 Show 5 moreShow less1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu31:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu41:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu51:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.11:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.2 |
1:4.2.8p4+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 |
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Exploit-DB | NTP - Local Privilege Escalation | 2016-01-21 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, Exploit-DB, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2016-0727 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published January 22, 2016. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.25%, the 69th percentile. Fixed in ntp 1:4.2.8p9+dfsg-2.
References
ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3096-1
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1382369
securitytracker.com/id/1034808
packetstormsecurity.com/files/141913/NTP-Privilege-Escalation.html
securityfocus.com/bid/81552
bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ntp/+bug/1528050
Show 24 moreShow less
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-0727
github.com/advisories/GHSA-c7qx-m9c7-8wm7
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-0727
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-0727
halfdog.net/Security/2015/NtpCronjobUserNtpToRootPrivilegeEscalation
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-3096-1
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-0727
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-7973
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-7974
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-7975
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-7976
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-7977
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-7978
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-7979
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-8138
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-8158
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-1547
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-1548
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-1550
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-2516
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-2518
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-4954
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-4955
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-4956