# CVE-2020-24489: Privilege escalation in Intel(R) VT-d products

> An authenticated local attacker can escalate privileges due to incomplete cleanup in Intel VT-d products.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 9 Jun 2021
- **Updated:** 8 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2020-24489, DEBIAN-CVE-2020-24489, GHSA-v4xf-4525-wqq9, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-24489

## What is CVE-2020-24489?

CVE-2020-24489 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 9 Jun 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Incomplete cleanup in some Intel(R) VT-d products may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.

Weakness: CWE-459 (Incomplete Cleanup)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-24489?

It affects 214 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Intel Atom X5-E3930, Intel Atom X5-E3940, Intel Atom X7-E3950, Intel Celeron J1750, Intel Celeron J1800, Intel Celeron J1850, Intel Celeron J1900, Intel Celeron J3060, Intel Celeron J3160, Intel Celeron J3355, Intel Celeron J3355e, Intel Celeron J3455, Intel Celeron J3455e, Intel Celeron J4005, Intel Celeron J4025, Intel Celeron J4105, Intel Celeron J4115, Intel Celeron J4125, Intel Celeron J6412 and 194 more.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-24489?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2020-24489 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-24489 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)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [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-2020-24489 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-24489 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 9 Jun 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-2020-24489 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-2020-24489/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24489/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-24489
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-24489
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-24489

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24489/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.