CVE-2019-20054

In the Linux kernel before 5.0.6, there is a NULL pointer dereference in drop_sysctl_table() in fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c, related to put_links, aka CID-23da9588037e.

Published: 2019-12-28 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2019-20054 is rated Low Risk (27.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-20054

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-03-30 0.19% 0.06% -0.13%
2 2025-03-29 0.06% 0.19% +0.13%
3 2024-12-21 0.06%

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-20054

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
3.9 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-20054

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-20054

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2019-20054 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-20054
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-20054
suse medium CVE-2019-20054 severity moderate: SUSE including 219 source package names (bpftool-3.10.0-1160.el7, bpftool-4.18.0-240.el8, …), 518 product×package rows across 85 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-BYOS, … (85 product lines)): Fixed 496, Known Not Affected 22. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-20054/
ubuntu medium CVE-2019-20054 medium priority: Ubuntu including 117 source packages (linux, linux-aws, …), 1274 status rows across 14 suites (bionic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 915, not-affected 191, released 150, ignored 18. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-20054

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-20054

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel < 5.0.6 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp active_iq_unified_manager cpe:2.3:a:netapp:active_iq_unified_manager:-:*:*:*:*:vmware_vsphere:*:*
netapp cloud_backup cpe:2.3:a:netapp:cloud_backup:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp data_availability_services cpe:2.3:a:netapp:data_availability_services:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp e-series_santricity_os_controller >= 11.0, <= 11.70.2 cpe:2.3:a:netapp:e-series_santricity_os_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp fas\/aff_baseboard_management_controller cpe:2.3:a:netapp:fas\/aff_baseboard_management_controller:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp solidfire_\&_hci_management_node cpe:2.3:a:netapp:solidfire_\&_hci_management_node:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp steelstore_cloud_integrated_storage cpe:2.3:a:netapp:steelstore_cloud_integrated_storage:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp solidfire_baseboard_management_controller cpe:2.3:h:netapp:solidfire_baseboard_management_controller:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h610s_firmware cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h610s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp 8300_firmware cpe:2.3:o:netapp:8300_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp 8700_firmware cpe:2.3:o:netapp:8700_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp a400_firmware cpe:2.3:o:netapp:a400_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-20054

cvelogic Threat Intelligence