Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2020-10024 is a Zephyr RTOS ARM privilege-escalation flaw. If an attacker already has code running inside a user thread, the bug can let that code gain kernel-level privileges. This is high impact for embedded products that rely on Zephyr user/kernel separation.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority for Zephyr-based ARM products where kernel compromise affects safety, confidentiality, or device control. It is less urgent for assets that do not use Zephyr, do not target ARM, or do not run attacker-influenced user code.
Technical view
The ARM platform-specific Zephyr syscall validation logic used a signed integer comparison for syscall numbers. The CVE maps this to CWE-697 and scores 7.8 CVSS v3.1, with local attack vector, low privileges, high complexity, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in embedded or IoT firmware using Zephyr on ARM, especially versions identified as affected: 1.14.0 and later, and 2.1.0 and later. Network exposure is not indicated by the sources; exploitation requires prior user-thread code execution.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. The attacker must already execute code in a user thread. The security consequence is escalation from constrained user execution to kernel privileges.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE record, Zephyr advisory references, and linked upstream pull requests. The bundle identifies affected Zephyr version ranges but does not provide a complete product list, exploit availability, or exact fixed release mapping.
Mitigation direction
- Check Zephyr security guidance for the fixed revision applicable to your branch.
- Upgrade Zephyr or backport the upstream correction through vendor-supported channels.
- Inventory firmware and SBOMs for Zephyr ARM builds in affected version ranges.
- Prioritize products that run untrusted or externally influenced user-thread code.
- Request device-vendor firmware updates where Zephyr is embedded indirectly.
Validation and detection
- Confirm Zephyr versions and ARM targets in source, SBOMs, and shipped firmware.
- Verify the relevant upstream pull-request fixes are present in your maintained branch.
- Review product architecture for user-mode syscall use and isolation assumptions.
- Run regression tests around syscall validation and privilege boundaries.
- Confirm deployed firmware images no longer contain affected Zephyr code.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-697: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-10024 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H1.16Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://zephyrprojectsec.atlassian.net/browse/ZEPSEC-30CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/pull/23323CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/pull/23535CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/pull/23498CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://docs.zephyrproject.org/latest/security/vulnerabilities.html#cve-2020-10024CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Incorrect Comparison
Incorrect Comparison represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.