How severe is CVE-2020-17380?

CVE-2020-17380 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.3, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is low, integrity low, and availability low.

Is CVE-2020-17380 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (34th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2020-17380?

CVE-2020-17380 primarily affects Qemu. In total, 2 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2020-17380?

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

When was CVE-2020-17380 published?

CVE-2020-17380 was published on 2021-01-30 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2020-17380

CVE-2020-17380 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Qemu with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.3. 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-787.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.3)
CVSS v2: 4.6
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (34th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-787
Affected product: Qemu
Published: 2021-01-30
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

A heap-based buffer overflow was found in QEMU through 5.0.0 in the SDHCI device emulation support. It could occur while doing a multi block SDMA transfer via the sdhci_sdma_transfer_multi_blocks() routine in hw/sd/sdhci.c. A guest user or process could use this flaw to crash the QEMU process on the host, resulting in a denial of service condition, or potentially execute arbitrary code with privileges of the QEMU process on the host.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-17380?: A heap-based buffer overflow was found in QEMU through 5.0.0 in the SDHCI device emulation support. It could occur while doing a multi block SDMA transfer via the sdhci_sdma_transfer_multi_blocks() routine in hw/sd/sdhci.c. A guest user or process could use this flaw to crash the QEMU process on the host, resulting in a denial of service condition, or potentially execute arbitrary code with privileges of the QEMU process on the host.
How severe is CVE-2020-17380?: CVE-2020-17380 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.3, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is low, integrity low, and availability low.
Is CVE-2020-17380 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (34th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2020-17380?: CVE-2020-17380 primarily affects Qemu. In total, 2 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2020-17380?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2020-17380 published?: CVE-2020-17380 was published on 2021-01-30 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (2)

cpe:2.3:a:qemu:qemu:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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