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Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2020-5238

medium Nessus Plugin ID 230231

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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.

 - The table extension in GitHub Flavored Markdown before version 0.29.0.gfm.1 takes O(n * n) time to parse certain inputs. An attacker could craft a markdown table which would take an unreasonably long time to process, causing a denial of service. This issue does not affect the upstream cmark project. The issue has been fixed in version 0.29.0.gfm.1. (CVE-2020-5238)

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://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-5238

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-5238

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 230231

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2020_5238.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 3/5/2025

Updated: 9/1/2025

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 3.6

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4

Temporal Score: 3

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2020-5238

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.5

Temporal Score: 5.7

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

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.04, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:11.0, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:r-cran-commonmark, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:ruby-commonmarker, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:python-cmarkgfm, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:r-cran-commonmark, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:cmark-gfm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:cmark-gfm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:python-cmarkgfm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:haskell-cmark-gfm, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts

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: 7/1/2020

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2020-5238