CVE-2020-10711

A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the Linux kernel's SELinux subsystem in versions before 5.7. This flaw occurs while importing the Commercial IP Security Option (CIPSO) protocol's category bitmap into the SELinux extensible bitmap via the' ebitmap_netlbl_import' routine. While processing the CIPSO restricted bitmap tag in the 'cipso_v4_parsetag_rbm' routine, it sets the security attribute to indicate that the category bitmap is present, even if it has not been allocated. This issue leads to a NULL pointer dereference issue while importing the same category bitmap into SELinux. This flaw allows a remote network user to crash the system kernel, resulting in a denial of service.

Published: 2020-05-22 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-10711 is rated Moderate Risk (55.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 5.44%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2020-10711

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 2026-01-24 5.08% 5.44% +0.36%
2 2025-12-28 2.79% 5.08% +2.29%
3 2025-12-27 2.79%

Full EPSS history (21 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-10711

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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.
2.2 3.6 [email protected]
5.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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.
2.2 3.6 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-10711

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-10711

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-10711 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-2020-10711
redhat high https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-10711
suse medium CVE-2020-10711 severity moderate: SUSE including 658 source package names (amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20210304-hvm-ssd-x86_64, amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20220127-hvm-ssd-x86_64, …), 1012 product×package rows across 120 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, Image SLES12-SP5-Azure-BYOS, … (120 product lines)): Fixed 830, Known Affected 157, Known Not Affected 25. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-10711/
ubuntu low CVE-2020-10711 low priority: Ubuntu including 112 source packages (linux, linux-aws, …), 1151 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, eoan, focal, groovy, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 819, released 165, not-affected 150, ignored 17. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-10711

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-10711

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel < 5.7 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat 3scale 2.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:3scale:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 13 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat virtualization_host 4.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:virtualization_host:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_aus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_aus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat messaging_realtime_grid 2.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:messaging_realtime_grid:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 15.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 15.2 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 19.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:19.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 20.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-10711

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-06/msg00022.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-07/msg00008.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2020-10711 Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/06/msg00012.html Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200608-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4411-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4412-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4413-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4414-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4419-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4698 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4699 Third Party Advisory
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/05/12/2 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
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