# CVE-2020-12652: Race condition in n/a

> Local attackers can exploit a race condition in the Linux kernel's mptctl driver to potentially escalate privileges, though impact is limited by root requirements.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 May 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-12652, GHSA-4rx9-gpfg-xh6c, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-12652

## What is CVE-2020-12652?

CVE-2020-12652 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 5 May 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The __mptctl_ioctl function in drivers/message/fusion/mptctl.c in the Linux kernel before 5.4.14 allows local users to hold an incorrect lock during the ioctl operation and trigger a race condition, i.e., a "double fetch" vulnerability, aka CID-28d76df18f0a. NOTE: the vendor states "The security impact of this bug is not as bad as it could have been because these operations are all privileged and root already has enormous destructive power."

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-12652?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-12652?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2020-12652 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-12652 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-12652 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-12652 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 5 May 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-12652 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12652/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12652/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-12652
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-12652
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-12652

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12652/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.