CVE-2020-12114

Kernel panic via mountpoint reference race

Published May 4, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Race condition in fs/namespace.c in the Linux kernel allows local users to trigger a kernel panic through concurrent pivot_root operations. pivot_root increments a mountpoint's m_count without holding mount_lock while put_mountpoint can decrement it under that lock, corrupting the reference counter. Unprivileged local access is sufficient on 4.4.x before 4.4.221, 4.9.x before 4.9.221, 4.14.x before 4.14.178, 4.19.x before 4.19.119, and 5.x before 5.3; exploitation crashes the host without reported data exposure or modification.

CVSS severity4.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.44%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Race condition in fs/namespace.c in the Linux kernel allows local users to trigger a kernel panic through concurrent pivot_root operations. pivot_root increments a mountpoint's m_count without holding mount_lock while put_mountpoint can decrement it under that lock, corrupting the reference counter. Unprivileged local access is sufficient on 4.4.x before 4.4.221, 4.9.x before 4.9.221, 4.14.x before 4.14.178, 4.19.x before 4.19.119, and 5.x before 5.3; exploitation crashes the host without reported data exposure or modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-12114
Published
May 4, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-362, CAPEC-29, CAPEC-26, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 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

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

4.7NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

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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-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
CAPEC-29Leveraging Time-of-Check and Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) Race Conditions
CAPEC-26Leveraging Race Conditions
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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

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Your stack

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