HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2020-27678
CRITICAL

CVE-2020-27678

CWE-120Published: October 26, 2020· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

9.8
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

An issue was discovered in illumos before 2020-10-22, as used in OmniOS before r151030by, r151032ay, and r151034y and SmartOS before 20201022. There is a buffer overflow in parse_user_name in lib/libpam/pam_framework.c.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2020-27678 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.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges Req.None
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors & Products

illumos1 product(s)
illumos
joyent1 product(s)
smartos
omniosce1 product(s)
omnios
Source: NVD CPE · 3 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
Exploit-DB
Offensive Security exploit database
GitHub PoC Search
Community PoC repositories
Rapid7 / Metasploit
Metasploit module search
PacketStorm
Security advisories & exploits
NVD Detail
Official NIST entry
MITRE CVE
CVE Program entry
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Official Patches & Advisories

PATCHhttps://github.com/illumos/illumos-gate/commit/1d276e0b382cf066dae93640746d8b4c54d15452
PATCHhttps://github.com/illumos/illumos-gate/commit/1d276e0b382cf066dae93640746d8b4c54d15452

All References (2)

→
https://github.com/illumos/illumos-gate/commit/1d276e0b382cf066dae93640746d8b4c54d15452Patch · Third Party Advisory
→
https://github.com/illumos/illumos-gate/commit/1d276e0b382cf066dae93640746d8b4c54d15452Patch · Third Party Advisory

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2020-27678
CVSS Score9.8 / 10
SeverityCRITICAL
WeaknessCWE-120
CISA KEVNo
Affected3 vendor(s)
PublishedOct 26, 2020

Related CVEs (CWE-120)

CVE-2011-4862
10.0
CVE-1999-0046
10.0
CVE-2023-4260
10.0
CVE-2024-25139
10.0
CVE-2002-1337
10.0
CVE-2001-0554
10.0

Recommended Actions

  • →Apply vendor patches immediately
  • →Monitor CVE-2020-27678 in threat intel feeds
  • →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWATCH.COM. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.
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