CVE-2020-8597

eap.c in pppd in ppp 2.4.2 through 2.4.8 has an rhostname buffer overflow in the eap_request and eap_response functions.

Published: 2020-02-03 Last update: 2025-12-03 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-8597 is rated High Risk (73.5/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 62.96%, 98th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize 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-2020-8597

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 2026-06-13 63.12% 62.96% -0.15%
2 2026-06-09 66.03% 63.12% -2.91%
3 2026-05-27 — 66.03% —

Full EPSS history (43 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-8597

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

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]
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 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
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-2020-8597

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-8597

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2020-8597: 1 source package rows (ppp); 10 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 10, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-8597
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-8597 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (lwip, ppp), 10 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 10. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-8597
gentoo high CVE-2020-8597: 1 GLSA(s) (202003-19), 1 atom(s) (net-dialup/ppp); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2020-8597
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-8597
suse high CVE-2020-8597 severity important: SUSE including 27 source package names (ppp-2.4.5-34.el7_7, ppp-2.4.5.git-2.32.3.1, …), 70 product×package rows across 53 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE Enterprise Storage 5, … (53 product lines)): Fixed 70. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-8597/
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-8597 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (lwip, ppp), 34 status rows across 17 suites (bionic, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 16, not-affected 11, DNE 3, needs-triage 3, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-8597

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-8597

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
point-to-point_protocol_project point-to-point_protocol >= 2.4.2, <= 2.4.8 cpe:2.3:a:point-to-point_protocol_project:point-to-point_protocol:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
wago pfc_firmware < 03.04.10\(16\) cpe:2.3:o:wago:pfc_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 12.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 19.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:19.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-8597

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-03/msg00006.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156662/pppd-2.4.8-Buffer-Overflow.html Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156802/pppd-2.4.8-Buffer-Overflow.html Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Mar/6 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0630 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0631 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0633 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0634 Third Party Advisory
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-809841.pdf Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/paulusmack/ppp/commit/8d7970b8f3db727fe798b65f3377fe6787575426 Patch Third Party Advisory
https://kb.netgear.com/000061806/Security-Advisory-for-Unauthenticated-Remote-Buffer-Overflow-Attack-in-PPPD-on-WAC510-PSV-2020-0136 Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/02/msg00005.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/UNJNHWOO4XF73M2W56ILZUY4JQG3JXIR/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/YOFDAIOWSWPG732ASYUZNINMXDHY4APE/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202003-19 Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200313-0004/ Third Party Advisory
https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ics/advisories/icsa-20-224-04 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4288-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4288-2/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4632 Third Party Advisory
https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/782301 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
https://www.synology.com/security/advisory/Synology_SA_20_02 Third Party Advisory
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