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Fencer Vulns
medium 5.5

CVE-2020-14314 json

A memory out-of-bounds read flaw was found in the Linux kernel before 5.9-rc2 with the ext3/ext4 file system, in the way it accesses a dire…

published 2020-09-15 6 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2020-6466

cvss
5.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 31%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

A memory out-of-bounds read flaw was found in the Linux kernel before 5.9-rc2 with the ext3/ext4 file system, in the way it accesses a directory with broken indexing. This flaw allows a local user to crash the system if the directory exists. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.

Patch / fix

  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 5.8.7-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2020-14314

  • linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-193.224
  • linux Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-121.123
  • linux Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-51.56
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1117.131
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-1086.91
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1028.29
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.15.0-1086.98~16.04.1
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1028.29

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2020-14314

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • kernel RHEL 8 4.18.0-305.el8
  • perf RHEL 8 4.18.0-305.el8
  • bpftool RHEL 8 4.18.0-305.el8
  • kernel-core RHEL 8 4.18.0-305.el8
  • kernel-tools RHEL 8 4.18.0-305.el8
  • python3-perf RHEL 8 4.18.0-305.el8
  • kernel-modules RHEL 8 4.18.0-305.el8
  • kernel-zfcpdump RHEL 8 4.18.0-305.el8

red hat advisories RHSA-2021:1578RHSA-2021:1739RHSA-2020:5441RHSA-2020:5437

  • kernel-rt Real Time Module 15 SP1 4.12.14-14.31.1
  • kernel-syms-rt Real Time Module 15 SP1 4.12.14-14.31.1
  • kernel-rt_debug Real Time Module 15 SP1 4.12.14-14.31.1
  • kernel-source-rt Real Time Module 15 SP1 4.12.14-14.31.1
  • kernel-syms SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4-LTSS, OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 +1 more 4.12.14-95.60.1
  • kernel-source SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4-LTSS, OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 +1 more 4.12.14-95.60.1
  • kernel-default SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4-LTSS, SLE Live Patching 12 SP4 +3 more 4.12.14-95.60.1
  • kernel-syms SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15-LTSS +1 more 4.12.14-150.58.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2020:2631-1SUSE-SU-2020:2623-1SUSE-SU-2020:2610-1SUSE-SU-2020:2605-1SUSE-SU-2020:2582-1SUSE-SU-2020:2576-1

  • kernel-rt openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.3.5.1
  • kernel-syms-rt openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.3.5.1
  • kernel-rt_debug openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.3.5.1
  • kernel-source-rt openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.3.5.1
  • kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.41.1
  • kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.41.1
  • kernel-source openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.41.1
  • kernel-default openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.41.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2021:0242-1openSUSE-SU-2020:1382-1openSUSE-SU-2020:1325-1

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2020-14314 updated cvss 5.5

kernel: buffer uses out of index in ext3/4 filesystem

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, kernel-alt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-tools, +3 more Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 kernel
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “If any directories of the partition (or image) broken, the command "e2fsck -Df .../partition-name" fixes it.”
  • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 4.18.0-305.el8, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 4.18.0-305.el8, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 4.18.0-305.el8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) perf 4.18.0-305.el8, kernel 4.18.0-305.el8, bpftool 4.18.0-305.el8, kernel-core 4.18.0-305.el8, kernel-tools 4.18.0-305.el8, python3-perf 4.18.0-305.el8, +15 more
    fixed: vendor fix “If any directories of the partition (or image) broken, the command "e2fsck -Df .../partition-name" fixes it.” RHSA-2021:1578
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, bpftool 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, +2 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7
    fixed: vendor fix “If any directories of the partition (or image) broken, the command "e2fsck -Df .../partition-name" fixes it.” RHSA-2020:5437
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-1160.11.1.rt56.1145.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-1160.11.1.rt56.1145.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.11.1.rt56.1145.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Real Time for NFV (v. 7) kernel-rt 3.10.0-1160.11.1.rt56.1145.el7, kernel-rt-kvm 3.10.0-1160.11.1.rt56.1145.el7, kernel-rt-trace 3.10.0-1160.11.1.rt56.1145.el7, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 3.10.0-1160.11.1.rt56.1145.el7, kernel-rt-trace-kvm 3.10.0-1160.11.1.rt56.1145.el7, kernel-rt-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.11.1.rt56.1145.el7
    fixed: vendor fix “If any directories of the partition (or image) broken, the command "e2fsck -Df .../partition-name" fixes it.” RHSA-2020:5441
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 8) kernel-rt 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-core 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-modules 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-debug-core 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-debug-modules 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-modules-extra 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, +2 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 8) kernel-rt 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-kvm 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-core 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-modules 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, kernel-rt-debug-core 4.18.0-305.rt7.72.el8, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix “If any directories of the partition (or image) broken, the command "e2fsck -Df .../partition-name" fixes it.” RHSA-2021:1739
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, bpftool 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel-kdump 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, +7 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) perf 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, bpftool 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, python-perf 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel-tools 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, kernel-tools-libs 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7, +2 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 3.10.0-1160.11.1.el7
    fixed: vendor fix “If any directories of the partition (or image) broken, the command "e2fsck -Df .../partition-name" fixes it.” RHSA-2020:5437

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.37% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 31% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD 3.1 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD 2.0 2.1 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Affected products

  • Linux Kernel kernel

Classification

Weakness
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.