// For flags

CVE-2020-15437

kernel: NULL pointer dereference in serial8250_isa_init_ports function in drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c

Severity Score

4.4
*CVSS v3.1

Exploit Likelihood

< 1%
*EPSS

Affected Versions

1
*CPE

Public Exploits

1
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

-
*SSVC
Descriptions

The Linux kernel before version 5.8 is vulnerable to a NULL pointer dereference in drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c:serial8250_isa_init_ports() that allows local users to cause a denial of service by using the p->serial_in pointer which uninitialized.

El kernel de Linux anterior a versión 5.8 es vulnerable a una desreferencia del puntero NULL en drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c:serial8250_isa_init_ports() que permite a usuarios locales causar una denegación de servicio utilizando el puntero p-)serial_in que no se inicializó

A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s UART 8250 functionality, in the way certain hardware architectures handled situations where default ports (0x2E8, 0x2F8, 0x3E8, 0x3F8) are not available. This flaw allows a local user to crash the system. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.

Daniele Antonioli, Nils Ole Tippenhauer, and Kasper Rasmussen discovered that legacy pairing and secure-connections pairing authentication in the Bluetooth protocol could allow an unauthenticated user to complete authentication without pairing credentials via adjacent access. A physically proximate attacker could use this to impersonate a previously paired Bluetooth device. Jay Shin discovered that the ext4 file system implementation in the Linux kernel did not properly handle directory access with broken indexing, leading to an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service. Various other issues were also addressed.

*Credits: N/A
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:-
Exploitation
-
Automatable
-
Tech. Impact
-
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2020-06-30 CVE Reserved
  • 2020-11-23 CVE Published
  • 2024-08-04 CVE Updated
  • 2024-08-04 First Exploit
  • 2025-03-18 EPSS Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
CWE
  • CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions (1)