CVE-2020-16126 json
accountsservice drops ruid, allows unprivileged users to send it signals
published 2020-11-11 5 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2020-8092
- cvss
- 3.3
- version 3.1, CNA
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.5%
- EPSS 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 45%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
An Ubuntu-specific modification to AccountsService in versions before 0.6.55-0ubuntu13.2, among other earlier versions, improperly dropped the ruid, allowing untrusted users to send signals to AccountService, thus stopping it from handling D-Bus messages in a timely fashion.
Patch / fix
- Freedesktop accountsservice 0.6.35-0ubuntu7.3+esm2, 0.6.40-2ubuntu11.6, 0.6.45-1ubuntu1.3, 0.6.55-0ubuntu12~20.04.4, 0.6.55-0ubuntu13.2
- accountsservice Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 0.6.40-2ubuntu11.6
- accountsservice Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 0.6.45-1ubuntu1.3
- accountsservice Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 0.6.55-0ubuntu12~20.04.4
- accountsservice Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS 0.6.35-0ubuntu7.3+esm2
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2020-16126
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
Exploit prediction
0.54% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 45% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
Exploits and checks
- securitylab.github.com https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2020-187-accountsservice-drop-privs-DOS referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 3.1 | 3.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L |
| NVD | 3.1 | 3.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L |
| NVD | 2.0 | 2.1 | AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P |
Affected products
- Freedesktop accountsservice
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
References
-
securitylab.github.com
/advisories/GHSL-2020-187-accountsservice-drop-privs-DOS
exploit, third-party-advisory
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2020-16126
- NVD CVE-2020-16126
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