CVE-2020-12656

MEDIUMNVD 5.55.5—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 5.5 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: LOW) published 2022-05-24. NVD baseline CVSS 5.5; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 3 sources updated this week
5.5
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorLow exploitation likelihood right now — keep watching.
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 0%CVSS: 5.5Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

gss_mech_free in net/sunrpc/auth_gss/gss_mech_switch.c in the rpcsec_gss_krb5 implementation in the Linux kernel through 5.6.10 lacks certain domain_release calls, leading to a memory leak. Note: This was disputed with the assertion that the issue does not grant any access not already available. It is a problem that on unloading a specific kernel module some memory is leaked, but loading kernel modules is a privileged operation. A user could also write a kernel module to consume any amount of memory they like and load that replicating the effect of this bug

CVSS v3
5.5
EG Score
5.5(medium)
EG Risk
25(Track)
EG Risk 25/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity55% × 45%
Exploitation0% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS
25.8%
KEV
Not listed

Published

May 5, 2020

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

References (10)

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntulinux-image-virtual-hwe-20.04 (5.4.0.45.49) @ focal2026-05-27ubuntu
ubuntulinux-image-oracle (4.15.0.1051.42) @ xenial2026-05-27ubuntu

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Weakness Classification(2)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

All Vendor Advisories

(3)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 12× in last 7d / 43× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-23 01:49 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-07-22 22:33 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-07-22 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-19 13:24 UTCOSV refresh
  8. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-18 10:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-16 16:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-13 22:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-07-12 05:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-07-11 08:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-07-09 19:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-08 15:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-07 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-06 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-06 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-06 02:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-05 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 74 more
  1. 2026-07-04 06:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-01 22:31 UTCOSV refresh
  3. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-29 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-29 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-28 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-28 04:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-28 04:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-21 01:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-19 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-18 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-06-17 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-15 17:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-06-14 23:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-06-14 23:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-06-14 03:13 UTCOSV refresh
  37. 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-06-12 23:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-06-11 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-06-10 13:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-06-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  53. 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  57. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  58. 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  59. 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  60. 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  61. 2026-05-31 00:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  62. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  64. 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  66. 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
  68. 2026-05-27 03:57 UTCEG score recompute
  69. 2026-05-27 03:57 UTCVendor advisory
  70. 2026-05-27 03:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  71. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  74. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2020-12656?
CVE-2020-12656 is a medium vulnerability published on May 5, 2020. gssmechfree in net/sunrpc/authgss/gssmechswitch.c in the rpcsecgsskrb5 implementation in the Linux kernel through 5.6.10 lacks certain domainrelease calls, leading to a memory leak. Note: This was disputed with the assertion that the issue does not grant any access not already available. It is a…
When was CVE-2020-12656 disclosed?
CVE-2020-12656 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on May 5, 2020, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2020-12656 actively exploited?
CVE-2020-12656 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 25.8% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-12656?
CVE-2020-12656 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.5 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2020-12656?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2020-12656, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2020-12656

Explore →

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2020-12656?

EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.

Start Free Scan →Browse All CVEs