CVE-2020-8916: A memory leak in Openthread's wpantund versions up to commit 0e5d1601febb869f583e944785e5685c6c747be7, when us

Q: How do I fix CVE-2020-8916?

wpantund: upgrade to newer than 2020-05-28. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Q: Is CVE-2020-8916 being exploited?

CVE-2020-8916 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

Q: What does CVE-2020-8916 affect?

CVE-2020-8916 affects wpantund. Severity is medium (CVSS 5.0). A memory leak in Openthread's wpantund versions up to commit 0e5d1601febb869f583e944785e5685c6c747be7, when used in an environment where wpanctl is directly interfacing with the control driver (eg: debug environments) can allow an attacker

Q: How urgent is CVE-2020-8916?

Priority 22/100. No elevated risk signals yet.

Routine

MEDIUM 5.0UPGRADE

CVE-2020-8916 is a medium-severity flaw (CVSS 5.0) affecting wpantund. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

A memory leak in Openthread's wpantund versions up to commit 0e5d1601febb869f583e944785e5685c6c747be7, when used in an environment where wpanctl is directly interfacing with the control driver (eg: debug environments) can allow an attacker to crash the service (DoS). We recommend updating, or to restrict access in your debug environments.

Why this priority

No elevated risk signals yet

A fixed release or distro patch exists.

Risk facts

CVSS score	5.0 (Medium)
Attack vector	Local
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	Low
User interaction	Required
EPSS exploit chance	0.3% (top 81%)
CISA exploited list	No
Weakness	CWE-401
Published	2020-07-07
Last modified	2026-06-17

Publisher (CNA): Google Inc. · Vendor: openthread

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

Am I affected?

Timeline

2020-07-07 21:15 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-17 03:27 UTCUpdated Record last modified

openthread wpantund UPGRADE

Affected: <= 2020-05-28

Fixed in: newer than 2020-05-28

Safe to downgrade to: no unaffected older release

1. Check installed version

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

2. UPGRADE to newer than 2020-05-28 (Debian / Ubuntu)

sudo apt update && sudo apt install --only-upgrade wpantund

2. UPGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

sudo dnf upgrade wpantund

Note

Distros often backport fixes without changing the version number. Confirm with the distro advisory or changelog.

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-2020-8916?

wpantund: upgrade to newer than 2020-05-28. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2020-8916 being exploited?

CVE-2020-8916 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-2020-8916 affect?

CVE-2020-8916 affects wpantund. Severity is medium (CVSS 5.0). A memory leak in Openthread's wpantund versions up to commit 0e5d1601febb869f583e944785e5685c6c747be7, when used in an environment where wpanctl is directly interfacing with the control driver (eg: debug environments) can allow an attacker

How urgent is CVE-2020-8916?

Priority 22/100. No elevated risk signals yet.

Related CVEs

CVE-2021-33889 MEDIUM 6.8 UPGRADE OpenThread wpantund through 2021-07-02 has a stack-based Buffer Overflow because of an inconsistency in the in

References

← Back to latest CVEs