Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2020-23911 is a denial-of-service issue in asn1c through v0.9.28. A crafted condition can trigger a NULL pointer dereference in an error logging path, causing the tool to crash. The public record does not provide a CVSS score, confirmed patch version, or evidence of active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted availability risk for teams that rely on asn1c in automated workflows. Prioritize inventory and containment first; broader urgency depends on whether untrusted ASN.1 input can reach the tool.
Technical view
The CVE describes a NULL pointer dereference in _default_error_logger() in asn1fix.c in asn1c through v0.9.28. The stated impact is denial of service. Available metadata is sparse: no CVSS, CWE, CPE, or remediation details are supplied in the source bundle.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where asn1c through v0.9.28 processes untrusted or externally supplied ASN.1 definitions, including build systems, CI jobs, developer tooling, or services that invoke asn1c. Generated code exposure is not established by the supplied sources.
Exploitation context
The source bundle states attacker-caused denial of service but does not document active exploitation. CISA KEV status is false. The public evidence provided is limited to the CVE record and a GitHub issue reference.
Researcher notes
The record lacks scoring, affected CPEs, CWE classification, and fix details. Analysis should stay narrow: asn1c through v0.9.28, NULL pointer dereference in _default_error_logger() in asn1fix.c, denial of service only.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory uses of asn1c and identify versions through v0.9.28.
- Check upstream maintainer guidance for a fixed release or recommended workaround.
- Do not feed untrusted ASN.1 input to affected asn1c versions.
- Run ASN.1 compilation in constrained, restartable build environments.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether asn1c is installed in build, CI, or analysis environments.
- Record the exact asn1c version in dependency and tooling inventories.
- Review workflows for externally supplied ASN.1 files reaching asn1c.
- Monitor the linked GitHub issue and CVE record for remediation updates.
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.
CVE-2020-23911 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
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
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 and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/vlm/asn1c/issues/394CVE reference
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.