CVE-2020-14331 Memory corruption in Linux Kernel

What is CVE-2020-14331?

CVE-2020-14331 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s implementation of the invert video code on VGA consoles when a local attacker attempts to resize the console, calling an ioctl VT_RESIZE, which causes an out-of-bounds write to occur. This flaw allows a local user with access to the VGA console to crash the system, potentially escalating their privileges on the system. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

Weakness: CWE-787

Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-14331?

It affects 2 products.

Products include Linux kernel, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

How do I fix CVE-2020-14331?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2020-14331 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-14331 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2020-14331, GHSA-x3f8-pg55-6qfg, SUSE-SU-2020:2537-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-14331.