CVE-2020-12494 | Beckhoff: Etherleak in TwinCAT RT network driver

Beckhoff's TwinCAT RT network driver for Intel 8254x and 8255x is providing EtherCAT functionality. The driver implements real-time features. Except for Ethernet frames sent from real-time functionality, all other Ethernet frames sent through the driver are not padded if their payload is less than the minimum Ethernet frame size. Instead, arbitrary memory content is transmitted within in the padding bytes of the frame. Most likely this memory contains slices from previously transmitted or received frames. By this method, memory content is disclosed, however, an attacker can hardly control which memory content is affected. For example, the disclosure can be provoked with small sized ICMP echo requests sent to the device.

Published: 2020-06-16 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-12494 is rated Moderate Risk (42.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.01%). 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-2020-12494

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 2026-06-15 0.34% 1.01% +0.68%
2 2025-11-21 0.23% 0.34% +0.11%
3 2025-11-18 0.23%

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-12494

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N 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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 1.4 [email protected]
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N 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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 1.4 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N 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:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-12494

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-12494

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
beckhoff twincat_driver <= 3.1.0.3603 cpe:2.3:a:beckhoff:twincat_driver:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
beckhoff twincat <= 3.1.0.3512 cpe:2.3:a:beckhoff:twincat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
beckhoff twincat <= 2.11.0.2120 cpe:2.3:a:beckhoff:twincat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
beckhoff twincat <= 3.1.0.3600 cpe:2.3:a:beckhoff:twincat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
beckhoff twincat <= 3.1.0.3500 cpe:2.3:a:beckhoff:twincat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
beckhoff twincat <= 2.11.0.2117 cpe:2.3:a:beckhoff:twincat:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-12494

cvelogic Threat Intelligence