Sensitive-data disclosure via oversized console resize
Published Aug 22, 2023 · Updated Jul 9, 2026
Use-after-free in Fedora Linux kernel 5.9.0-rc9 allows local users with high privileges to read sensitive data via console ioctls. Screen resizing updates vc_size_row, but vgacon_set_origin retains the smaller VGA-memory origin; TIOCLINUX then uses the larger row size to read beyond that region in vgacon_invert_region. Access requires high local privileges and a VGA text console, and the documented impact is limited to kernel-memory disclosure.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Fedora Linux kernel 5.9.0-rc9 allows local users with high privileges to read sensitive data via console ioctls. Screen resizing updates vc_size_row, but vgacon_set_origin retains the smaller VGA-memory origin; TIOCLINUX then uses the larger row size to read beyond that region in vgacon_invert_region. Access requires high local privileges and a VGA text console, and the documented impact is limited to kernel-memory disclosure.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-27418
- Published
- Aug 22, 2023
- Updated
- Jul 9, 2026
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1005
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 22, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 9, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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What is affected?
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Published CVSS scores
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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.
Public exploit references
- Upstream vgacon_invert_region reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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