What is CVE-2020-12656?

CVE-2020-12656 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a Memory Leak flaw (CWE-401). CVE-2020-12656 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2020-12656?

CVE-2020-12656 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2020-12656?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2020-12656. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

Is CVE-2020-12656 actively exploited?

CVE-2020-12656 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Memory Leak (CWE-401)?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/401.html

CVE-2020-12656

Medium

gss_mech_free in net/sunrpc/auth_gss/gss_mech_switch.c in the rpcsec_gss_krb5 implementation in the Linux kernel through 5.6.10 lacks certain domain_release calls, leading to a memory leak. Note: This was disputed with the assertion that the issue does not grant any access not already available. It is a problem that on unloading a specific kernel module some memory is leaked, but loading kernel modules is a privileged operation. A user could also write a kernel module to consume any amount of memory they like and load that replicating the effect of this bug

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2020-05-05

Last modified 2024-11-21

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Awaiting data

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-401

CVE-2020-12656 is a Memory Leak vulnerability

What is Memory Leak?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. Learn more on MITRE CWE

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2020-12656 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Lists
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-06/msg00022.html

Mailing List Third Party Advisory
Lists
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-07/msg00008.html

Mailing List Third Party Advisory
Kernel.org
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=206651

Issue Tracking Vendor Advisory
Ubuntu Security
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4483-1/

Third Party Advisory
Ubuntu Security
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4485-1/

Third Party Advisory

Details

CVE ID CVE-2020-12656

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2020-05-05

Modified 2024-11-21

KEV No

Patch Awaiting data

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-12656?

CVE-2020-12656 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a Memory Leak flaw (CWE-401) . CVE-2020-12656 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2020-12656?

CVE-2020-12656 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2020-12656?

No patch is currently available for CVE-2020-12656. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.
Is CVE-2020-12656 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2020-12656 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is Memory Leak (CWE-401)?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. View CWE-401 on MITRE CWE →