# CVE-2020-24977: Memory corruption in n/a > A global buffer over-read in libxml2 allows attackers to cause denial of service or disclose sensitive memory contents. - **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Not needed - **Attackable:** Over the internet - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 3 Sep 2020 - **Updated:** 14 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2020-24977, DEBIAN-CVE-2020-24977, ECHO-8205-149e-9651, GHSA-w4m9-3rvp-7fhj, JLSEC-2025-69, MGASA-2021-0002, RHSA-2021:1597, RLSA-2021:1597, SUSE-SU-2020:2612-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-24977, openSUSE-SU-2020:1430-1, openSUSE-SU-2020:1465-1 ## What is CVE-2020-24977? CVE-2020-24977 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 3 Sep 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. ### Official description GNOME project libxml2 v2.9.10 has a global buffer over-read vulnerability in xmlEncodeEntitiesInternal at libxml2/entities.c. The issue has been fixed in commit 50f06b3e. Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-24977? It affects 18 products. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `libxml2-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `python3-libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `libxml2-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `python3-libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `python3-libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `libxml2` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:2.9.7-9.el8 | | `libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.25.1 | | `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.25.1 | | `libxml2` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.25.1 | | `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.25.1 | | `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Python 2 15 SP1 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.25.1 | | `python-libxml2-python` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Python 2 15 SP2 | All versions | 2.9.7-3.25.1 | | `libxml2` | openSUSE:Leap 15.1 | All versions | 2.9.7-lp151.5.15.1 | | `python-libxml2-python` | openSUSE:Leap 15.1 | All versions | 2.9.7-lp151.5.15.1 | | `libxml2` | openSUSE:Leap 15.2 | All versions | 2.9.7-lp152.10.3.1 | | `python-libxml2-python` | openSUSE:Leap 15.2 | All versions | 2.9.7-lp152.10.3.1 | Products: Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager, Netapp Clustered Data Ontap, Netapp Clustered Data Ontap Antivirus Connector, Netapp Hci H410c Firmware, Netapp Inventory Collect Tool, Netapp Manageability Software Development Kit, Netapp Snapdrive, Opensuse Leap, Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Network Function Cloud Native Environment, Oracle Enterprise Manager Base Platform, Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center, Oracle Http Server, Oracle Mysql Workbench, Oracle Peoplesoft Enterprise Peopletools, Oracle Real User Experience Insight, Xmlsoft Libxml2. ## How do I fix CVE-2020-24977? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2020-24977 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-24977 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-2020-24977 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2020-24977 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 3 Sep 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-24977 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-2020-24977/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24977/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-24977 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-24977 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-24977 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-24977/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.