# CVE-2020-28601: Memory corruption in CGAL

> An out-of-bounds read in CGAL's Nef polygon parser allows attackers to trigger code execution or denial of service via malicious input.

- **Severity:** Critical 10.0 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 Mar 2021
- **Updated:** 23 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-28601, GHSA-xgmv-27h3-874r, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-28601

## What is CVE-2020-28601?

CVE-2020-28601 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 Mar 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A code execution vulnerability exists in the Nef polygon-parsing functionality of CGAL libcgal CGAL-5.1.1. An oob read vulnerability exists in Nef_2/PM_io_parser.h PM_io_parser::read_vertex() Face_of[] OOB read. An attacker can provide malicious input to trigger this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read), CWE-129 (Improper Validation of Array Index)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-28601?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Cgal Computational Geometry Algorithms Library, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-28601?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2020-28601 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-28601 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2020-28602](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28602/): Memory corruption in libcgal (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2020-28603](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28603/): Memory corruption in libcgal (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2020-28604](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28604/): Memory corruption in libcgal (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2020-28605](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28605/): Memory corruption in libcgal (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2020-28606](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28606/): Memory corruption in libcgal (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-28601 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-28601 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 Mar 2021. 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-2020-28601 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-2020-28601/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28601/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-28601
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-28601
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-28601

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-28601/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.