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Fencer Vulns
high 8.8

CVE-2020-14339 json

A flaw was found in libvirt, where it leaked a file descriptor for `/dev/mapper/control` into the QEMU process.

published 2020-12-03 5 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2020-6485

cvss
8.8
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 36%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

A flaw was found in libvirt, where it leaked a file descriptor for `/dev/mapper/control` into the QEMU process. This file descriptor allows for privileged operations to happen against the device-mapper on the host. This flaw allows a malicious guest user or process to perform operations outside of their standard permissions, potentially causing serious damage to the host operating system. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality, integrity, as well as system availability.

Patch / fix

  • redhat libvirt 6.7.0
  • libvirt Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 6.6.0-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2020-14339

  • SLOF RHEL 8 20191022-3.git899d9883.module+el8.3.0+6423+e4cb6418
  • hivex RHEL 8 1.3.18-20.module+el8.3.0+6423+e4cb6418
  • netcf RHEL 8 0.2.8-12.module+el8.1.0+4066+0f1aadab
  • libnbd RHEL 8 1.2.2-1.module+el8.3.0+7353+9de0a3cc
  • nbdkit RHEL 8 1.16.2-4.module+el8.3.0+6922+fd575af8
  • libvirt RHEL 8 6.0.0-28.module+el8.3.0+7827+5e65edd7
  • nbdfuse RHEL 8 1.2.2-1.module+el8.3.0+7353+9de0a3cc
  • seabios RHEL 8 1.13.0-2.module+el8.3.0+7353+9de0a3cc

red hat advisories RHSA-2020:4676RHSA-2020:3586

  • libvirt SLE Module for Server Applications 15 SP2, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 6.0.0-13.3.1
  • libvirt SLE Module for Server Applications 15 SP1, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 5.1.0-8.19.1
  • libvirt SLES for SAP 12 SP5, SLES 12 SP5, SLE Software Development Kit 12 SP5 5.1.0-13.9.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2020:2269-1SUSE-SU-2020:2237-1SUSE-SU-2020:2233-1

  • libvirt openSUSE Tumbleweed 7.7.0-2.1
  • libvirt openSUSE Leap 15.2 6.0.0-lp152.9.3.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:11008-1openSUSE-SU-2020:1455-1

  • hivex AlmaLinux 8 1.3.18-20.module_el8.3.0+2048+e7a0a3ea
  • netcf AlmaLinux 8 0.2.8-12.module_el8.5.0+2608+72063365
  • netcf AlmaLinux 8 0.2.8-12.module_el8.6.0+2880+7d9e3703
  • netcf AlmaLinux 8 0.2.8-12.module_el8.3.0+2048+e7a0a3ea
  • libnbd AlmaLinux 8 1.2.2-1.module_el8.5.0+2608+72063365
  • libnbd AlmaLinux 8 1.2.2-1.module_el8.3.0+2048+e7a0a3ea
  • nbdkit AlmaLinux 8 1.16.2-4.module_el8.5.0+2608+72063365
  • libvirt AlmaLinux 8 6.0.0-28.module_el8.3.0+2048+e7a0a3ea

almalinux advisories ALSA-2020:4676

  • hivex Rocky Linux 8 1.3.18-20.module+el8.4.0+534+4680a14e
  • netcf Rocky Linux 8 0.2.8-12.module+el8.7.0+1084+97b81f61
  • netcf Rocky Linux 8 0.2.8-12.module+el8.4.0+534+4680a14e
  • netcf Rocky Linux 8 0.2.8-12.module+el8.6.0+847+b490afdd
  • libnbd Rocky Linux 8 1.2.2-1.module+el8.4.0+534+4680a14e
  • nbdkit Rocky Linux 8 1.16.2-4.module+el8.4.0+534+4680a14e
  • seabios Rocky Linux 8 1.13.0-2.module+el8.4.0+534+4680a14e
  • sgabios Rocky Linux 8 1:0.20170427git-3.module+el8.7.0+1084+97b81f61

rocky linux advisories RLSA-2020:4676

  • libvirt Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +10 more 6.6.0-r0

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2020-14339

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • libvirt Arch Linux 6.5.0-2

arch linux advisories AVG-1232

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-2020-14339 updated cvss 8.8

libvirt: leak of /dev/mapper/control into QEMU guests

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Advanced Virtualization libvirt, libvirt-nss, libvirt-libs, libvirt-admin, libvirt-client, libvirt-daemon, +22 more
    affected: workaround, no fix available “This issue is mitigated on Red Hat Enterprise Linux if SELinux is in enforcing mode, which prevents the `/dev/mapper/control` file descriptor from being accessible by a guest user/process.”
  • Red Hat Advanced Virtualization CodeReady Builder for RHEL 8.2.1 libnbd 1.2.2-1.module+el8.2.0+5644+32ac38d4, netcf 0.2.8-12.module+el8.2.0+4793+b09dd2fb, hivex 1.3.18-20.module+el8.2.0+5588+63a201c3, nbdfuse 1.2.2-1.module+el8.2.0+5644+32ac38d4, seabios 1.13.0-2.module+el8.2.1+7284+aa32a2c4, libiscsi 1.18.0-8.module+el8.2.0+4793+b09dd2fb, +45 more Red Hat Advanced Virtualization for RHEL 8.2.1 libnbd 1.2.2-1.module+el8.2.0+5644+32ac38d4, netcf 0.2.8-12.module+el8.2.0+4793+b09dd2fb, hivex 1.3.18-20.module+el8.2.0+5588+63a201c3, nbdfuse 1.2.2-1.module+el8.2.0+5644+32ac38d4, nbdkit 1.16.2-4.module+el8.2.1+6710+effcb1df, seabios 1.13.0-2.module+el8.2.1+7284+aa32a2c4, +96 more
    fixed: vendor fix “This issue is mitigated on Red Hat Enterprise Linux if SELinux is in enforcing mode, which prevents the `/dev/mapper/control` file descriptor from being accessible by a guest user/process.” RHSA-2020:3586
  • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) libnbd 1.2.2-1.module+el8.3.0+7353+9de0a3cc, netcf 0.2.8-12.module+el8.1.0+4066+0f1aadab, hivex 1.3.18-20.module+el8.3.0+6423+e4cb6418, nbdfuse 1.2.2-1.module+el8.3.0+7353+9de0a3cc, libvirt 6.0.0-28.module+el8.3.0+7827+5e65edd7, seabios 1.13.0-2.module+el8.3.0+7353+9de0a3cc, +39 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) libnbd 1.2.2-1.module+el8.3.0+7353+9de0a3cc, netcf 0.2.8-12.module+el8.1.0+4066+0f1aadab, hivex 1.3.18-20.module+el8.3.0+6423+e4cb6418, nbdfuse 1.2.2-1.module+el8.3.0+7353+9de0a3cc, nbdkit 1.16.2-4.module+el8.3.0+6922+fd575af8, libvirt 6.0.0-28.module+el8.3.0+7827+5e65edd7, +88 more
    fixed: vendor fix “This issue is mitigated on Red Hat Enterprise Linux if SELinux is in enforcing mode, which prevents the `/dev/mapper/control` file descriptor from being accessible by a guest user/process.” RHSA-2020:4676
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 libvirt Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 libvirt, libvirt-client, libvirt-python, libvirt-lock-sanlock Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 libvirt, libvirt-nss, libvirt-libs, libvirt-admin, libvirt-client, libvirt-daemon, +24 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Advanced Virtualization libvirt, libvirt-nss, libvirt-libs, libvirt-admin, libvirt-client, libvirt-daemon, +22 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 libvirt, libvirt-nss, libvirt-libs, libvirt-client, libvirt-daemon, libvirt-ssh-proxy, +25 more
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

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

0.42% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 36% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 7.2 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Affected products

  • n/a libvirt

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-772 Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime

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.