CVE-2020-6162: An issue was discovered in Bftpd 5.3

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CRITICAL 9.1REMOTEDOWNGRADE

CVE-2020-6162 is a critical-severity flaw (CVSS 9.1) affecting bftpd. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

An issue was discovered in Bftpd 5.3. Under certain circumstances, an out-of-bounds read is triggered due to an uninitialized value. The daemon crashes at startup in the hidegroups_init function in dirlist.c.

Why this priority

Critical severity
Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

No fix is published yet: follow the downgrade or mitigation steps.

Risk facts

CVSS score	9.1 (Critical)
Attack vector	Network (remote)
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	None
User interaction	None
EPSS exploit chance	1.7% (top 22%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-125
Published	2020-01-10
Last modified	2026-06-17

Publisher (CNA): MITRE · Vendor: bftpd project

Last updated 2026-06-17 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2020-01-10 17:15 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-17 03:22 UTCUpdated Record last modified

bftpd project bftpd DOWNGRADE

Affected: 5.3

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 5.3

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy bftpd || rpm -q bftpd || bftpd --version

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE to a release before 5.3 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison bftpd sudo apt install bftpd=<VERSION_BEFORE_5.3> sudo apt-mark hold bftpd

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list bftpd sudo dnf downgrade bftpd-<VERSION_BEFORE_5.3> sudo dnf versionlock add bftpd

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2020-6162?

bftpd: downgrade or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2020-6162 being exploited?

CVE-2020-6162 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2020-6162 affect?

CVE-2020-6162 affects bftpd. Severity is critical (CVSS 9.1). An issue was discovered in Bftpd 5.3. Under certain circumstances, an out-of-bounds read is triggered due to an uninitialized value. The daemon crashes at startup in the hidegroups_init function in dirlist.c.

How urgent is CVE-2020-6162?

Priority 56/100. Critical severity; Remotely exploitable, no login, no user action

Related CVEs

CVE-2020-6835 CRITICAL 9.8 UPGRADE An issue was discovered in Bftpd before 5.4
CVE-2017-16892 HIGH 7.5 UPGRADE In Bftpd before 4.7, there is a memory leak in the file rename function.

References

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