CVE-2016-7937: The VAT parser in tcpdump before 4.9.0 has a buffer overflow in print-udp.c:vat_print().

Security readout for executives and security teams

CVE-2016-7937 is a buffer overflow in tcpdump’s VAT packet parser before version 4.9.0. Tcpdump is commonly used for network troubleshooting and packet capture analysis. The main concern is systems or analysts processing untrusted network traffic or capture files with vulnerable tcpdump versions. Exposure is likely on systems running tcpdump versions before 4.9.0, including Linux distributions that shipped vulnerable packages. Risk is higher where tcpdump processes live untrusted traffic or externally supplied packet capture files. Address during normal vulnerability remediation, prioritizing security monitoring systems, network troubleshooting hosts, and analyst workstations that handle untrusted traffic or captures. Escalate if tcpdump runs with elevated privileges in exposed environments. Mitigation focus: Upgrade tcpdump to version 4.9.0 or later where available.; Apply distribution security updates from Debian, Red Hat, Gentoo, or relevant vendors.; Avoid processing untrusted packet captures with vulnerable tcpdump versions..

Prepared

Jun 13, 2026, 09:19 UTC (UTC+00:00)

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.