How severe is CVE-2020-10768?

CVE-2020-10768 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity none, and availability none.

Is CVE-2020-10768 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (32nd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2020-10768?

CVE-2020-10768 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2020-10768?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2020-10768 published?

CVE-2020-10768 was published on 2020-09-16 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2020-10768

CVE-2020-10768 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-440.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
CVSS v2: 2.1
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (32nd percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-440
Affected product: Linux Linux Kernel
Published: 2020-09-16
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

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.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-10768?: 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.
How severe is CVE-2020-10768?: CVE-2020-10768 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity none, and availability none.
Is CVE-2020-10768 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (32nd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2020-10768?: CVE-2020-10768 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2020-10768?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2020-10768 published?: CVE-2020-10768 was published on 2020-09-16 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Linux Linux Kernel

CVE-2023-2163 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Incorrect verifier pruning in BPF in Linux Kernel >=5.4 leads to unsafe code paths being incorrectly marked as safe,…
CVE-2015-8104 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The KVM subsystem in the Linux kernel through 4.2.6, and Xen 4.3.x through 4.6.x, allows guest OS users to cause a…
CVE-2015-1421 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Use-after-free vulnerability in the sctp_assoc_update function in net/sctp/associola.c in the Linux kernel before…
CVE-2014-2523 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_dccp.c in the Linux kernel through 3.13.6 uses a DCCP header pointer incorrectly,…
CVE-2010-2495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The pppol2tp_xmit function in drivers/net/pppol2tp.c in the L2TP implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does…
CVE-2010-2521 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Multiple buffer overflows in fs/nfsd/nfs4xdr.c in the XDR implementation in the NFS server in the Linux kernel before…

All CVEs affecting Linux Linux Kernel →

Other CWE-440 vulnerabilities

CVE-2019-6569 — Critical (CVSS 9.1): The monitor barrier of the affected products insufficiently blocks data from being forwarded over the mirror port into…
CVE-2024-32971 — Critical (CVSS 9.0): Apollo Router is a configurable, graph router written in Rust to run a federated supergraph that uses Apollo Federation…
CVE-2025-8850 — High (CVSS 8.8): In danny-avila/librechat version 0.7.9, there is an insecure API design issue in the 2-Factor Authentication (2FA)…
CVE-2026-8806 — High (CVSS 8.7): Expected Behavior Violation vulnerability in Mitsubishi Electric MELSEC iQ-F Series FX5-ENET/IP Ethernet Module…
CVE-2018-12550 — High (CVSS 8.1): When Eclipse Mosquitto version 1.0 to 1.5.5 (inclusive) is configured to use an ACL file, and that ACL file is empty,…
CVE-2023-4807 — High (CVSS 7.8): Issue summary: The POLY1305 MAC (message authentication code) implementation contains a bug that might corrupt the…

Browse all CWE-440 vulnerabilities →