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Fencer Vulns
high 7.2

CVE-2020-25643 json

A flaw was found in the HDLC_PPP module of the Linux kernel in versions before 5.9-rc7.

published 2020-10-06 6 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2020-18309

cvss
7.2
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
3.3%
EPSS 3.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 88%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

A flaw was found in the HDLC_PPP module of the Linux kernel in versions before 5.9-rc7. Memory corruption and a read overflow is caused by improper input validation in the ppp_cp_parse_cr function which can cause the system to crash or cause a denial of service. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

Patch / fix

  • linux linux_kernel 4.4.238, 4.9.238, 4.14.200, 4.19.148, 5.4.68, 5.8.12
  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 5.8.14-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2020-25643

  • linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-197.229
  • linux Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-126.129
  • linux Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-56.62
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.4.0-1118.132
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-1088.93
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1030.31
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 4.15.0-1088.101~16.04.1
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1030.32

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2020-25643

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-syms SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4-LTSS, OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 +1 more 4.12.14-95.65.1
  • kernel-source SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4-LTSS, OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 +1 more 4.12.14-95.65.1
  • kernel-default SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4-LTSS, SLE Live Patching 12 SP4 +3 more 4.12.14-95.65.1
  • kernel-syms SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15-LTSS +1 more 4.12.14-150.63.1
  • kernel-source SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15-LTSS +1 more 4.12.14-150.63.1
  • kernel-default SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE Live Patching 15 +3 more 4.12.14-150.63.1
  • kernel-vanilla SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15-LTSS +1 more 4.12.14-150.63.1
  • kernel-obs-build SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15-LTSS +1 more 4.12.14-150.63.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2021:14630-1SUSE-SU-2020:3544-1SUSE-SU-2020:3532-1SUSE-SU-2020:3503-1SUSE-SU-2020:3501-1SUSE-SU-2020:3491-1

  • 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-default-base openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.50.1.lp152.8.10.1
  • kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.47.1
  • kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.47.1
  • kernel-source openSUSE Leap 15.2 5.3.18-lp152.47.2

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2021:0242-1openSUSE-SU-2020:2112-1openSUSE-SU-2020:1698-1openSUSE-SU-2020:1655-1

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-2020-25643 updated cvss 7.2

kernel: improper input validation in ppp_cp_parse_cr function leads to memory corruption and read overflow

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, kernel-alt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-tools, +3 more
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 kernel-rt, mrg-rt-release, kernel-rt-trace, kernel-rt-vanilla, kernel-rt-firmware
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • 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 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 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 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 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 RHSA-2020:5437
show 1 more
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel
    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

3.29% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 88% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 7.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 7.5 AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:C

Affected products

  • n/a kernel

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
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.