Security Resilience

CVE-2023-20569

Debian Linux 10.0 … 12.0

Public PoC
Published
08 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.073 94th percentile
Risk Priority 45 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-20569 is a medium-severity Observable Discrepancy (CWE-203) vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux. Its CVSS base score is 4.7 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Steganography (T1001.002); ranked in the top 6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A side channel vulnerability on some of the AMD CPUs may allow an attacker to influence the return address prediction. This may result in speculative execution at an attacker-controlled address, potentially leading to information disclosure.

CWE(s)
CWE-203

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.002 Steganography Command And Control
Adversaries may use steganographic techniques to hide command and control traffic to make detection efforts more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011 Exfiltration Over Other Network Medium Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over a different network medium than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011.001 Exfiltration Over Bluetooth Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over Bluetooth rather than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-20575Same product: Amd Epyc 72F3
CVE-2025-21336Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-0361Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-43546Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2023-20583Same vendor: Amd
CVE-2023-44216Same product: Amd Ryzen 5 7600X
CVE-2024-25189Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-2408Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2025-39702Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-5388Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

fedoraproject
fedora
37, 38
debian
debian linux
10.0, 11.0, 12.0
amd
ryzen 9 5950x firmware
≤ comboam4v2pi_1.2.0.b
amd
ryzen 9 5900x firmware
≤ comboam4v2pi_1.2.0.b
amd
ryzen 9 5900 firmware
≤ comboam4v2pi_1.2.0.b
amd
ryzen 9 pro 5945 firmware
≤ comboam4v2pi_1.2.0.b
amd
ryzen 7 5800x3d firmware
≤ comboam4v2pi_1.2.0.b
amd
ryzen 7 5800x firmware
≤ comboam4v2pi_1.2.0.b
amd
ryzen 7 5800 firmware
≤ comboam4v2pi_1.2.0.b
amd
ryzen 7 5700x firmware
≤ comboam4v2pi_1.2.0.b
+145 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

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.

SC-30 Concealment and Misdirection
addresses: CWE-203

Misdirection can normalize or falsify responses to eliminate observable discrepancies that aid reconnaissance.

SC-31 Covert Channel Analysis
addresses: CWE-203

Observable discrepancies in system behavior can be modulated to create covert storage or timing channels; the required analysis detects and constrains such avenues.

SI-11 Error Handling
addresses: CWE-203

Prevents attackers from using observable differences in error responses to infer internal system details or state.

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 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent observable response discrepancies via consistent error handling and timing.

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.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.6.8 Information security event reporting partial match
removes

References