CVE-2020-12888

Host crash via disabled MMIO access

Published May 15, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Improper MMIO access handling in Linux kernel 5.6.13 and earlier allows local users to crash the host through the VFIO PCI driver. The driver's read and write paths access a device's MMIO region after PCI memory space is disabled, allowing some devices to signal a fatal CPU error. Exploitation requires high privileges or a guest process with direct VFIO device access, and the resulting impact is a host-system crash.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.40%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper MMIO access handling in Linux kernel 5.6.13 and earlier allows local users to crash the host through the VFIO PCI driver. The driver's read and write paths access a device's MMIO region after PCI memory space is disabled, allowing some devices to signal a fatal CPU error. Exploitation requires high privileges or a guest process with direct VFIO device access, and the resulting impact is a host-system crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-12888
Published
May 15, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-755, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 15, 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 privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.3NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.7NIST NVDAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

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
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-755Improper Handling of Exceptional 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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