Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2020-11937 lets a local user crash or degrade a system by making Canonical whoopsie leak memory while parsing a crafted report file. The business risk is service disruption on affected Ubuntu systems, not data theft or remote takeover based on the provided sources.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate operational availability issue. It is not described as remotely exploitable, but affected shared or multi-user Ubuntu systems should be patched promptly to prevent local denial of service.
Technical view
The flaw is a CWE-400 resource exhaustion issue in whoopsie parse_report() from whoopsie.c. CVSS 3.1 is 5.5: local attack, low complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, unchanged scope, and high availability impact only. Fixed package versions are 0.2.52.5ubuntu0.5, 0.2.62ubuntu0.5, and 0.2.69ubuntu0.1.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on Ubuntu systems running Canonical whoopsie versions 0.2.52, 0.2.62, or 0.2.69 before the listed fixed builds. The sources do not establish exposure for non-Ubuntu platforms or other products.
Exploitation context
The vulnerability requires local access with low privileges. The bundle marks KEV as false, so there is no provided evidence of known active exploitation. A public GitHub reference exists, but that alone does not prove in-the-wild exploitation.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports a local memory-leak DoS in whoopsie report parsing. Do not broaden impact beyond availability. Confirm package lineage against Ubuntu advisory data, because the bundle names fixed builds but does not provide broader product lifecycle details.
Mitigation direction
- Update whoopsie to the fixed Ubuntu package version or later.
- Prioritize systems with many local users or untrusted shell access.
- Follow Canonical USN-4450-1 for package-specific remediation guidance.
- Reduce unnecessary local user access until affected systems are patched.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Ubuntu systems for installed whoopsie package versions.
- Confirm versions are at or above the fixed builds listed by Canonical.
- Check vulnerability scanner results specifically for CVE-2020-11937.
- Review monitoring for unexplained memory growth or availability events on affected hosts.
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
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-400: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-11937 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H1.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://launchpad.net/bugs/1881982CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- USN-4450-1CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM, vendor-advisory
- https://github.com/sungjungk/whoopsie_killerCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
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.
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.