CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-15437 — Linux Linux Kernel security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 4.9

The Linux kernel before version 5.8 is vulnerable to a NULL pointer dereference in drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250_core.c:serial8250_isa_init_ports() that allows local users to cause a denial of service by using the p->serial_in pointer which uninitialized.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
4.9 (2.0)
Published
2020-11-23
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
linux/kernel
Weaknesses
CWE-476

Affected products

  • linux / linux_kernel

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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