CVE-2020-15708: Libvirt Service Arbitrary File Write Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2020-15708 is a critical (CVSS 9.3) vulnerability in canonical ubuntu_linux. EPSS estimates a 0.40% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 34.3% of scored vulnerabilities.
Severe, CVSS 9.3 (CVE.org); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources; EPSS 0% (FIRST, 03-11-2026)
Source freshness unavailable
How is this decided?Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 10 · Related 10Timeline
- 06-11-2020PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 16-09-2024Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
Ubuntu's packaging of libvirt in 20.04 LTS created a control socket with world read and write permissions. An attacker could use this to overwrite arbitrary files or execute arbitrary code.
CVSS metrics
4 scores · 3 sources · 2 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated9.3CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- NVDNIST7.8HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HDiffers
EPSS trend
Probability
0.40%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
34%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
No change 0.00 pp
From 0.40% on 04-10-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogs
CISA KEVNot in the CISA KEV catalog.
ENISA CNWNot in the ENISA CNW catalog.
CIRCLNot in the CIRCL catalog.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Known conditions: local access, no authentication, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Ubuntu2 products
- libvirt< 6.0.0-0ubuntu8.3
- libvirt≥ unspecified, < 6.0.0-0ubuntu8.3
Canonical1 product
- ubuntu_linuxEOL20.04
2 vendors · 3 products