CVE-2020-15254 | Undefined Behavior in bounded Crossbeam channel

Exp

Crossbeam is a set of tools for concurrent programming. In crossbeam-channel before version 0.4.4, the bounded channel incorrectly assumes that `Vec::from_iter` has allocated capacity that same as the number of iterator elements. `Vec::from_iter` does not actually guarantee that and may allocate extra memory. The destructor of the `bounded` channel reconstructs `Vec` from the raw pointer based on the incorrect assumes described above. This is unsound and causing deallocation with the incorrect capacity when `Vec::from_iter` has allocated different sizes with the number of iterator elements. This has been fixed in crossbeam-channel 0.4.4.

Published: 2020-10-16 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-15254 is rated High Exploit Risk (72.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.62%). Core evidence: 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2020-15254

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-15254

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 2026-05-27 0.51% 0.62% +0.11%
2 2025-11-21 0.62% 0.51% -0.11%
3 2025-11-18 0.62%

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-15254

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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: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: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.
2.2 5.9 [email protected]
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]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-15254

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-15254

GHSA-v5m7-53cv-f3hx · Severity: high · Ecosystem: rust — crossbeam-channel Undefined Behavior before v0.4.4

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-15254

vendor priority summary link
alpine critical CVE-2020-15254: 2 source package rows (firefox, librewolf); 10 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 10, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-15254
debian unimportant CVE-2020-15254 unimportant priority: Debian including 2 source packages (firefox, rust-crossbeam-channel), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 6. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-15254
redhat high https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-15254
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-15254 medium priority: Ubuntu including 6 source packages (firefox, mozjs38, mozjs52, mozjs60, mozjs68, rust-crossbeam), 96 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 59, ignored 17, released 15, needs-triage 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-15254

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-15254

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
crossbeam_project crossbeam < 0.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:crossbeam_project:crossbeam:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-15254

cvelogic Threat Intelligence