# CVE-2020-17380: Memory corruption in n/a

> A heap-based buffer overflow in QEMU's SDHCI emulation allows guest users to crash the host or execute arbitrary code.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Jan 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-17380, GHSA-vrm6-9j6g-w54w, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-17380

## What is CVE-2020-17380?

CVE-2020-17380 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 30 Jan 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official 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.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-17380?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Qemu Qemu.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-17380?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2020-17380 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-17380 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
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- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-17380 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-17380 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 30 Jan 2021. 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-2020-17380 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2020-17380/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-17380/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-17380
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-17380
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-17380

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-17380/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.