CVE-2020-8648

Information exposure or crash via selection race

Published Feb 6, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel through 5.5.2 allows local users to expose sensitive information or crash the system. The proposed upstream fix attributes the dangling access to concurrent TIOCL_PASTESEL and TIOCL_SETSEL calls: one uses sel_buffer while the other frees and reallocates it. Exploitation normally requires a local console user able to issue virtual-terminal ioctls, and the patch notes that no reproducer confirmed this race for the cited kernel bug.

CVSS severity7.1
High
EPSS probability0.66%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in the Linux kernel through 5.5.2 allows local users to expose sensitive information or crash the system. The proposed upstream fix attributes the dangling access to concurrent TIOCL_PASTESEL and TIOCL_SETSEL calls: one uses sel_buffer while the other frees and reallocates it. Exploitation normally requires a local console user able to issue virtual-terminal ioctls, and the patch notes that no reproducer confirmed this race for the cited kernel bug.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-8648
Published
Feb 6, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-416, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 6, 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

3.6NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P
7.1NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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.

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-416Use After Free
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

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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