CVE-2020-21490Public exploit

Service interruption via unreleased operand strings

Published Aug 22, 2023 · Updated Oct 4, 2024

Memory leak in the MicroBlaze disassembler in GNU Binutils 2.34 allows local users to exhaust memory via crafted instruction data. The get_field helpers duplicate formatted operand strings for each decoded instruction, while print_insn_microblaze does not release those allocations. A user must cause a Binutils consumer to disassemble MicroBlaze code; repeated decoding grows memory use until the process or host is disrupted.

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

What happened

Memory leak in the MicroBlaze disassembler in GNU Binutils 2.34 allows local users to exhaust memory via crafted instruction data. The get_field helpers duplicate formatted operand strings for each decoded instruction, while print_insn_microblaze does not release those allocations. A user must cause a Binutils consumer to disassemble MicroBlaze code; repeated decoding grows memory use until the process or host is disrupted.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-21490
Published
Aug 22, 2023
Updated
Oct 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.003
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 22, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 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 privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.003Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

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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