CVE-2020-16124 | Integer overflow in ROS communications library

Integer Overflow or Wraparound vulnerability in the XML RPC library of OpenRobotics ros_comm communications packages allows unauthenticated network traffic to cause unexpected behavior. This issue affects: OpenRobotics ros_comm communications packages Noetic and prior versions. Fixed in https://github.com/ros/ros_comm/pull/2065.

Published: 2020-10-13 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-16124 is rated Moderate Risk (54.5/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.89%). 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-2020-16124

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 1.27% 0.89% -0.38%
2 2025-03-29 0.89% 1.27% +0.38%
3 2025-03-27 — 0.89% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-16124

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.3 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L 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:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 3.4 [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-2020-16124

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-16124

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-16124 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (ros-ros-comm), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-16124
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-16124 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (ros-ros-comm), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 5, ignored 4, needs-triage 4, not-affected 2, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-16124

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-16124

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ros ros-comm < 1.15.9 cpe:2.3:a:ros:ros-comm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-16124

URL Tags
https://github.com/ros/ros_comm/pull/2065 Patch Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence