CVE-2020-25221

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: September 10, 2020 at 01:39 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 03:06 AM UTC
6 products affected across 2 vendorsLinux KernelCloud BackupHci Compute Node

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.7%

Description

get_gate_page in mm/gup.c in the Linux kernel 5.7.x and 5.8.x before 5.8.7 allows privilege escalation because of incorrect reference counting (caused by gate page mishandling) of the struct page that backs the vsyscall page. The result is a refcount underflow. This can be triggered by any 64-bit process that can use ptrace() or process_vm_readv(), aka CID-9fa2dd946743.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

5.7.0 ≤ v < 5.8.7
Affected range stops below 5.8.7, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
All versions

References (6)

Mailing Listx_refsource_MLISTThird Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/09/10/4
x_refsource_MISCRelease NotesVendor Advisory
https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.8.7
x_refsource_MISCIssue TrackingPatchVendor Advisory
https://git.kernel.org/linus/8891adc61dce2a8a41fc0c23262b681c3ec4b73a
x_refsource_MISCIssue TrackingPatchVendor Advisory
https://git.kernel.org/linus/9fa2dd946743ae6f30dc4830da19147bf100a7f2
x_refsource_MISCMailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/09/08/4

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-672

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