CVE-2020-12278 [Critical] | RCE in Libgit2

CVE-2020-12278 is rated High Risk (71/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 5.11%, 91th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-18	5.25%	5.11%	-0.14%
2	2026-06-15	6.01%	5.25%	-0.76%
3	2026-03-11	—	6.01%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-18

5.25%

5.11%

-0.14%

2026-06-15

6.01%

5.25%

-0.76%

2026-03-11

—

6.01%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
9.8	3.1	CRITICAL	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. 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:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	3.9	5.9	[email protected]
7.5	2.0	HIGH	`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:L) Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	10.0	6.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

9.8

3.1

CRITICAL

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

3.9

5.9

[email protected]

7.5

2.0

HIGH

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L): Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

10.0

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-12278

vendor	priority	summary	link
`alpine`	critical	CVE-2020-12278: 1 source package rows (libgit2); 9 state rows across 3 repos (3.10-main, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 0, open 9.	https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-12278
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2020-12278 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libgit2), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-12278
`redhat`	low	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-12278
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2020-12278 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libgit2), 17 status rows across 17 suites (bionic, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 8, ignored 5, released 3, needed 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-12278

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-12278

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
libgit2	libgit2	< 0.28.4	cpe:2.3:a:libgit2:libgit2::::::::
debian	debian_linux	9.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2020-12278

URL	Tags
https://github.com/git/git/security/advisories/GHSA-5wph-8frv-58vj	Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/commit/3f7851eadca36a99627ad78cbe56a40d3776ed01	Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/commit/e1832eb20a7089f6383cfce474f213157f5300cb	Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/releases/tag/v0.28.4	Release Notes Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/releases/tag/v0.99.0	Release Notes Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/03/msg00031.html	Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/02/msg00034.html

URL

CVE-2020-12278

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-12278

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-12278

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-12278

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-12278

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-12278

References for CVE-2020-12278