How severe is CVE-2020-16092?

CVE-2020-16092 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 3.8, rated low severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability low.

Is CVE-2020-16092 being actively exploited?

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

What products are affected by CVE-2020-16092?

CVE-2020-16092 primarily affects Qemu. In total, 7 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2020-16092?

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

When was CVE-2020-16092 published?

CVE-2020-16092 was published on 2020-08-11 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2020-16092

CVE-2020-16092 is a low-severity vulnerability in Qemu with a CVSS 3.x base score of 3.8. 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-617.

Key facts

Severity: Low (CVSS 3.x base score 3.8)
CVSS v2: 2.1
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (30th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-617
Affected product: Qemu
Published: 2020-08-11
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

In QEMU through 5.0.0, an assertion failure can occur in the network packet processing. This issue affects the e1000e and vmxnet3 network devices. A malicious guest user/process could use this flaw to abort the QEMU process on the host, resulting in a denial of service condition in net_tx_pkt_add_raw_fragment in hw/net/net_tx_pkt.c.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-16092?: In QEMU through 5.0.0, an assertion failure can occur in the network packet processing. This issue affects the e1000e and vmxnet3 network devices. A malicious guest user/process could use this flaw to abort the QEMU process on the host, resulting in a denial of service condition in net_tx_pkt_add_raw_fragment in hw/net/net_tx_pkt.c.
How severe is CVE-2020-16092?: CVE-2020-16092 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 3.8, rated low severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability low.
Is CVE-2020-16092 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (30th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2020-16092?: CVE-2020-16092 primarily affects Qemu. In total, 7 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2020-16092?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2020-16092 published?: CVE-2020-16092 was published on 2020-08-11 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (7)

cpe:2.3:a:qemu:qemu:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Qemu

CVE-2022-36648 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The hardware emulation in the of_dpa_cmd_add_l2_flood of rocker device model in QEMU, as used in 7.0.0 and earlier,…
CVE-2017-16845 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): hw/input/ps2.c in Qemu does not validate 'rptr' and 'count' values during guest migration, leading to out-of-bounds…
CVE-2015-8556 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Gentoo QEMU package before 2.5.0-r1.
CVE-2009-3616 — Critical (CVSS 9.9): Multiple use-after-free vulnerabilities in vnc.c in the VNC server in QEMU 0.10.6 and earlier might allow guest OS…
CVE-2019-12929 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The QMP guest_exec command in QEMU 4.0.0 and earlier is prone to OS command injection, which allows the attacker to…
CVE-2019-12928 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The QMP migrate command in QEMU version 4.0.0 and earlier is vulnerable to OS command injection, which allows the…

All CVEs affecting Qemu →

Other CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion) vulnerabilities

CVE-2020-3615 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): Valid deauth/disassoc frames is dropped in case if RMF is enabled and some rouge peer keep on sending rogue…
CVE-2019-9795 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): A vulnerability where type-confusion in the IonMonkey just-in-time (JIT) compiler could potentially be used by…
CVE-2026-31739 — High (CVSS 8.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: tegra - Add missing CRYPTO_ALG_ASYNC The…
CVE-2020-12417 — High (CVSS 8.8): Due to confusion about ValueTags on JavaScript Objects, an object may pass through the type barrier, resulting in…
CVE-2020-6623 — High (CVSS 8.8): stb stb_truetype.h through 1.22 has an assertion failure in stbtt__cff_get_index.
CVE-2020-6619 — High (CVSS 8.8): stb stb_truetype.h through 1.22 has an assertion failure in stbtt__buf_seek.

Browse all CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion) vulnerabilities →