CVE-2020-36254 [High] | Security Vulnerability in Dropbear Ssh

CVE-2020-36254 is rated Moderate Risk (58.7/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.55%). EPSS rose +1.21% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	0.35%	1.55%	+1.21%
2	2026-05-30	0.63%	0.35%	-0.28%
3	2026-04-03	—	0.63%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

0.35%

1.55%

+1.21%

2026-05-30

0.63%

0.35%

-0.28%

2026-04-03

—

0.63%

—

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]
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	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
6.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/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:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. 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.	8.6	6.4	[email protected]

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]

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

134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

6.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/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:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
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.

8.6

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-36254

vendor	priority	summary	link
`alpine`	—	CVE-2020-36254: 1 source package rows (dropbear); 8 state rows across 8 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 2, open 6.	https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-36254
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2020-36254 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (dropbear), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-36254
`ubuntu`	low	CVE-2020-36254 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (dropbear), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 11, needs-triage 3, DNE 1, released 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-36254

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-36254

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
dropbear_ssh_project	dropbear_ssh	< 2020.79	cpe:2.3:a:dropbear_ssh_project:dropbear_ssh::::::::

References for CVE-2020-36254

URL	Tags
https://github.com/mkj/dropbear/commit/8f8a3dff705fad774a10864a2e3dbcfa9779ceff	Patch Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2020-36254

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-36254

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-36254

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-36254

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-36254

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-36254

References for CVE-2020-36254