Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2020-27170

medium Nessus Plugin ID 223503

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- An issue was discovered in the Linux kernel before 5.11.8. kernel/bpf/verifier.c performs undesirable out- of-bounds speculation on pointer arithmetic, leading to side-channel attacks that defeat Spectre mitigations and obtain sensitive information from kernel memory, aka CID-f232326f6966. This affects pointer types that do not define a ptr_limit. (CVE-2020-27170)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2020-27170

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-27170

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 223503

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2020_27170.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 3/4/2025

Updated: 8/30/2025

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Low

Base Score: 1.9

Temporal Score: 1.4

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2020-27170

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.7

Temporal Score: 4.1

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-core, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-fips, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-doc, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.3, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-extra, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-5.0, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:python3-perf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-selftests-internal, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-realtime, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi2, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-abi-whitelists, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-edge, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools-libs-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-cross-headers, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools-libs, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws-fips, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:perf, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.0, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-abi-stablelists, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-headers, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-aws, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-tools-libs-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-fips, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:bpftool, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-kvm, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-tools, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oem, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-cross-headers, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-devel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-tools, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-extra, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gcp-5.3, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-abi-stablelists, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-doc, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-devel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-5.3, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-tools-libs, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-abi-whitelists, cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-headers, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-fips, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-raspi-realtime, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:python3-perf, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-ipaclones-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-intel-iot-realtime, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-oracle-5.3, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-hwe-edge, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-gke-4.15, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-selftests-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-ipaclones-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:perf, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-lts-xenial, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-modules, cpe:/o:centos:centos:8, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-zfcpdump-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:bpftool, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-azure-edge, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-modules-internal, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-zfcpdump-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-core, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-debug-modules-extra, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-debug, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-core, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug-devel, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel-rt-debug-modules, p-cpe:/a:centos:centos:kernel, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-riscv, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:kernel-rt-debug

Required KB Items: Host/OS/identifier, Host/cpu, Host/local_checks_enabled, global_settings/vendor_unpatched

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 3/20/2021

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2020-27170