CVE-2020-15863
CWE-787Published: July 28, 2020· Updated: Jun 17, 2026
Official Description
hw/net/xgmac.c in the XGMAC Ethernet controller in QEMU before 07-20-2020 has a buffer overflow. This occurs during packet transmission and affects the highbank and midway emulated machines. A guest user or process could use this flaw to crash the QEMU process on the host, resulting in a denial of service or potential privileged code execution. This was fixed in commit 5519724a13664b43e225ca05351c60b4468e4555.
Technical Analysis
CVE-2020-15863 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.
Exploitation requires low privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.
The vulnerability has a "Changed" scope, meaning successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component itself — such as the host operating system or adjacent services.
From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-787): Out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities can lead to data corruption, crashes, or arbitrary code execution.
CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
Official Patches & Advisories
All References (16)
Quick Facts
Related CVEs (CWE-787)
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2020-15863 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts