# CVE-2020-8597: Memory corruption in n/a > A buffer overflow in the PPP daemon's EAP handling allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service. - **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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:** 3 Feb 2020 - **Updated:** 3 Dec 2025 - **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2020-8597, ALSA-2020:0633, AZL-45009, DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8597, DLA-2097-1, DSA-4632-1, GHSA-gw8r-xfqw-vw42, MGASA-2020-0139, RHSA-2020:0630, RHSA-2020:0631, RHSA-2020:0633, RHSA-2020:0634, RLSA-2020:0633, SUSE-SU-2020:0489-1, SUSE-SU-2020:0490-1, SUSE-SU-2020:14292-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-8597, USN-4288-1, USN-4288-2, openSUSE-SU-2020:0286-1, openSUSE-SU-2024:11191-1 ## What is CVE-2020-8597? CVE-2020-8597 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 3 Feb 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. ### Official description eap.c in pppd in ppp 2.4.2 through 2.4.8 has an rhostname buffer overflow in the eap_request and eap_response functions. Weakness: CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-8597? It affects 4 products. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `ppp` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp-devel` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.4.5-11.el6_10 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `ppp-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:2.4.5-34.el7_7 | | `network-scripts-ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | | `ppp` | Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.0::baseos | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_0 | | `ppp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.0::baseos | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_0 | | `ppp-debugsource` | Red Hat:rhel_e4s:8.0::baseos | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_0 | | `ppp` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:2.4.7-26.el8_1 | Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Point-to-Point Protocol Project Point-to-Point Protocol, Wago Pfc Firmware. ## How do I fix CVE-2020-8597? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2020-8597 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8597 in the wild and no public exploit code. Public exploit code: - CVE-2020-8597 pppd buffer overflow poc (github_poc): https://github.com/winmin/CVE-2020-8597 - CVE-2020-8597 in RM2100 (github_poc): https://github.com/lakwsh/CVE-2020-8597 - CVE-2020-8597 (github_poc): https://github.com/dointisme/CVE-2020-8597 - https://github.com/Dilan-Diaz/Point-to-Point-Protocol-Daemon-RCE-Vulnerability-CVE-2020-8597- (github_poc): https://github.com/Dilan-Diaz/Point-to-Point-Protocol-Daemon-RCE-Vulnerability-CVE-2020-8597- - Synthetic CWE-120 stack buffer overflow variant of CVE-2020-8597 (pppd EAP) as a CodeQL static-analysis target (github_poc): https://github.com/anna-kravets/codeql-buffer-overflow-variant ## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux - [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2020-8597 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2020-8597 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 3 Feb 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-2020-8597 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu 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-2020-8597/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8597/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-8597 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-8597 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-8597 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8597/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.