HOME VULNERABILITIESCVE-2020-29661

HIGH

CVE-2020-29661

CWE-416Published: December 9, 2020· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

7.8

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

A locking issue was discovered in the tty subsystem of the Linux kernel through 5.9.13. drivers/tty/tty_jobctrl.c allows a use-after-free attack against TIOCSPGRP, aka CID-54ffccbf053b.

Technical Analysis

CVE-2020-29661 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.

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 7.8.

From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-416): Use-after-free vulnerabilities involve accessing memory after it has been freed, often enabling arbitrary code execution.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability

Attack VectorLocal

Attack ComplexityLow

Privileges Req.Low

User InteractionNone

ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityHigh

IntegrityHigh

AvailabilityHigh

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors & Products

broadcom1 product(s)

fabric operating system

Debian1 product(s)

debian linux

Fedora1 product(s)

fedora

Linux1 product(s)

linux kernel

netapp13 product(s)

active iq unified managersolidfire baseboard management controller firmwaresolidfire baseboard management controllerh410c firmwareh410ca700s firmwarea700s8300 firmware83008700 firmware8700a400 firmware+1

Oracle1 product(s)

tekelec platform distribution

Source: NVD CPE · 20 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time

Offensive Security exploit database

GitHub PoC Search

Community PoC repositories

Rapid7 / Metasploit

Metasploit module search

Security advisories & exploits

Official NIST entry

CVE Program entry

External links open in a new tab. Always verify in a controlled environment before use.

Official Patches & Advisories

PATCHhttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/12/10/1

PATCHhttps://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=54ffccbf053b5b6ca4f6e45094b942fab92a25fc

PATCHhttps://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html

PATCHhttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/12/10/1

PATCHhttps://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=54ffccbf053b5b6ca4f6e45094b942fab92a25fc

PATCHhttps://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html

ADVISORYhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160681/Linux-TIOCSPGRP-Broken-Locking.html

ADVISORYhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164950/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0082-1.html

ADVISORYhttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/02/msg00018.html

ADVISORYhttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/03/msg00010.html

ADVISORYhttps://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210122-0001/

ADVISORYhttps://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4843

ADVISORYhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160681/Linux-TIOCSPGRP-Broken-Locking.html

ADVISORYhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164950/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0082-1.html

ADVISORYhttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/02/msg00018.html

ADVISORYhttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/03/msg00010.html

ADVISORYhttps://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210122-0001/

ADVISORYhttps://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4843

All References (22)

→

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160681/Linux-TIOCSPGRP-Broken-Locking.htmlThird Party Advisory · VDB Entry

→

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164950/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0082-1.htmlThird Party Advisory · VDB Entry

→

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/12/10/1Mailing List · Patch · Third Party Advisory

→

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=54ffccbf053b5b6ca4f6e45094b942fab92a25fcPatch · Vendor Advisory

→

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/02/msg00018.htmlMailing List · Third Party Advisory

→

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/03/msg00010.htmlMailing List · Third Party Advisory

→

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/BOB25SU6XUL4TNP7KB63WNZSYTIYFDPP/

→

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MZ7OAKAEFAXQRGBZK4LYUWINCD3D2XCL/

→

https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210122-0001/Third Party Advisory

→

https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4843Third Party Advisory

→

https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.htmlPatch · Third Party Advisory

→

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160681/Linux-TIOCSPGRP-Broken-Locking.htmlThird Party Advisory · VDB Entry

→

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164950/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0082-1.htmlThird Party Advisory · VDB Entry

→

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/12/10/1Mailing List · Patch · Third Party Advisory

→

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=54ffccbf053b5b6ca4f6e45094b942fab92a25fcPatch · Vendor Advisory

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2020-29661

CVSS Score7.8 / 10

SeverityHIGH

WeaknessCWE-416

CISA KEVNo

Affected6 vendor(s)

PublishedDec 9, 2020

Related CVEs (CWE-416)

Recommended Actions

→Apply vendor patches immediately
→Monitor CVE-2020-29661 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. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.

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