Is CVE-2020-15173 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2020-15173 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2020-15173 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2020-15173 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-15173?

CVE-2020-15173 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).

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CRITICAL

CVE-2020-15173

CWE-119Published: September 9, 2020· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

9.8

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

In ACCEL-PPP (an implementation of PPTP/PPPoE/L2TP/SSTP), there is a buffer overflow when receiving an l2tp control packet ith an AVP which type is a string and no hidden flags, length set to less than 6. If your application is used in open networks or there are untrusted nodes in the network it is highly recommended to apply the patch. The problem was patched with commit 2324bcd5ba12cf28f47357a8f03cd41b7c04c52b As a workaround changes of commit 2324bcd5ba12cf28f47357a8f03cd41b7c04c52b can be applied to older versions.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2020-15173 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 9.8.

From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-119): Buffer overflow vulnerabilities can lead to arbitrary code execution or denial of service by corrupting adjacent memory.