How severe is CVE-2020-14311?

CVE-2020-14311 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.7, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with high attack complexity, requires high privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2020-14311 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (37th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2020-14311?

CVE-2020-14311 primarily affects Redhat Enterprise Linux. In total, 13 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2020-14311?

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

When was CVE-2020-14311 published?

CVE-2020-14311 was published on 2020-07-31 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2020-14311

CVE-2020-14311 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.7. 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-122.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.7)
CVSS v2: 3.6
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (37th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-122
Affected product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
Published: 2020-07-31
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

There is an issue with grub2 before version 2.06 while handling symlink on ext filesystems. A filesystem containing a symbolic link with an inode size of UINT32_MAX causes an arithmetic overflow leading to a zero-sized memory allocation with subsequent heap-based buffer overflow.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-14311?: There is an issue with grub2 before version 2.06 while handling symlink on ext filesystems. A filesystem containing a symbolic link with an inode size of UINT32_MAX causes an arithmetic overflow leading to a zero-sized memory allocation with subsequent heap-based buffer overflow.
How severe is CVE-2020-14311?: CVE-2020-14311 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.7, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with high attack complexity, requires high privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2020-14311 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (37th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2020-14311?: CVE-2020-14311 primarily affects Redhat Enterprise Linux. In total, 13 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2020-14311?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2020-14311 published?: CVE-2020-14311 was published on 2020-07-31 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (13)

cpe:2.3:a:gnu:grub2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_eus:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_eus:8.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:8.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:8.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*

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