CVE-2020-10702

Local PAuth bypass via weak signatures

Published Jun 4, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Pointer Authentication weakness in QEMU allows local attackers to bypass ARM pointer protection on emulated systems. QEMU's ARM PAuth support signs every protected pointer with the same signature because its signature-generation routine fails to vary the signature input. A local attacker who obtains one protected-pointer signature can reuse it to bypass PAuth for programs running under QEMU; the issue affects versions 4.0.0 through before 5.0.0.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.33%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Pointer Authentication weakness in QEMU allows local attackers to bypass ARM pointer protection on emulated systems. QEMU's ARM PAuth support signs every protected pointer with the same signature because its signature-generation routine fails to vary the signature input. A local attacker who obtains one protected-pointer signature can reuse it to bypass PAuth for programs running under QEMU; the issue affects versions 4.0.0 through before 5.0.0.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-10702
Published
Jun 4, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
QEMU Project
Product
QEMU
Classifications
CWE-325
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 4, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 4.0.0, < 5.0.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

QEMU Project · QEMUversion=>= 4.0.0, < 5.0.0

Published CVSS scores

5.5Red Hat, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
2.1NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-325Missing Cryptographic Step

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo