Vulnerability identifier: #VU47076

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 4.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-10768

CWE-ID: CWE-20

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Operating systems & Components / Operating system

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

The vulnerability allows a local authenticated user to gain access to sensitive information.

A flaw was found in the Linux Kernel before 5.8-rc1 in the prctl() function, where it can be used to enable indirect branch speculation after it has been disabled. This call incorrectly reports it as being 'force disabled' when it is not and opens the system to Spectre v2 attacks. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 5.0 - 5.0.21, 5.1 - 5.1.21, 5.2 - 5.2.21, 5.3 - 5.3.18, 5.4 - 5.4.42, 5.5 - 5.5.19, 5.6 - 5.6.14, 5.7 - 5.7.7

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External links
http://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2020-10768
http://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=4d8df8cbb9156b0a0ab3f802b80cb5db57acc0bf

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.