Cyber Resilience

CVE-2020-16009

Memory Safety in Opensuse Backports Sle 15.0

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
03 November 2020
Modified
24 October 2025
KEV Added
03 November 2021
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.49 99th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2020-16009 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Opensuse Backports Sle. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability is an inappropriate implementation in the V8 JavaScript engine within Google Chrome versions prior to 86.0.4240.183. It is associated with CWE-787 (out-of-bounds write) and CWE-843 (type confusion) and can result in heap corruption when a victim visits a crafted HTML page. The issue received a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8.

A remote attacker can exploit the flaw by serving a malicious HTML page that triggers the corruption. Successful exploitation grants the attacker confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts without requiring authentication or special privileges beyond convincing the user to visit the page.

Chrome release notes and distribution advisories direct users to upgrade to version 86.0.4240.183 or later; corresponding OpenSUSE updates were published to address the same component. Public references also include a proof-of-concept targeting V8's Turbofan JIT compiler via type confusion.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Inappropriate implementation in V8 in Google Chrome prior to 86.0.4240.183 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
03 November 2021

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2021-21148Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2023-7024Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2020-15999Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2023-5217Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2022-4135Same product: Google Chromeboth on KEV
CVE-2023-4863Same product: Debian Debian Linuxboth on KEV
CVE-2024-4761Same product: Fedoraproject Fedoraboth on KEV
CVE-2021-21220Same product: Fedoraproject Fedoraboth on KEV
CVE-2021-30632Same product: Fedoraproject Fedoraboth on KEV
CVE-2025-5419Same product: Google Chromeboth on KEV

Affected Assets

cefsharp
cefsharp
≤ 86.0.241
google
chrome
≤ 86.0.4240.183
microsoft
edge
≤ 86.0.622.63
microsoft
edge chromium
≤ 86.0.4240.183
opensuse
backports sle
15.0
opensuse
leap
15.1, 15.2
fedoraproject
fedora
32, 33
debian
debian linux
10.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.5.2
  • V3.2.3
  • V15.3.5

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-787

Out-of-bounds writes that corrupt control flow or inject shellcode are rendered non-executable by the same memory protections.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect and prevent out-of-bounds write defects.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that prevent out-of-bounds writes.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory handling.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles reduce the likelihood of buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure coding directly addresses out-of-bounds writes through language choice and coding standards.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References