Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2020-15701 is a local denial-of-service issue in Ubuntu's apport crash-reporting tool. A low-privileged local attacker could make apport crash, disrupting crash reporting. The sources do not indicate data theft, privilege escalation, remote access, or active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate operational reliability issue, not an emergency breach indicator. Patch through normal Ubuntu security update processes, with priority for shared systems where local misuse is plausible.
Technical view
apport/report.py check_ignored() mishandles an apport-ignore.xml mtime attribute when it is a string, causing an unhandled exception and crash. CVSS 3.1 is 5.5 with local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges, no user interaction, and high availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is mainly Ubuntu systems running affected apport builds: 2.20.1, 2.20.9, or 2.20.11. The vulnerability requires local access, so risk is higher on shared servers, developer workstations, kiosks, or environments with untrusted local users.
Exploitation context
The provided sources describe local denial of service only. KEV is false, and the bundle provides no evidence of active exploitation. The triggering condition involves malformed apport ignore metadata, but no public exploit status is cited here.
Researcher notes
The evidence supports CWE-755 improper handling of exceptional conditions. The impact is apport availability, with no cited confidentiality or integrity impact. The source bundle does not identify affected Ubuntu release names beyond package build lines.
Mitigation direction
- Update apport to the fixed Ubuntu build listed for your release.
- Use Ubuntu USN-4449-1 and USN-4449-2 as authoritative patch guidance.
- Prioritize shared or multi-user Ubuntu systems before single-user endpoints.
- If patch state is unclear, check current Canonical guidance before applying workarounds.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Ubuntu systems running apport package versions 2.20.1, 2.20.9, or 2.20.11.
- Confirm apport is fixed at 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.24, 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.16, or 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.6.
- Verify affected systems receive the relevant Ubuntu security update.
- Review local-user exposure on systems where apport remains unpatched.
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-755: 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 lookupCVE-2020-15701 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
- 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
- USN-4449-1CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM, vendor-advisory
- https://launchpad.net/bugs/1877023CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- USN-4449-2CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
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.
Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions
Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.