CVE-2020-15106

Panic due to malformed WALs in go.etcd.io/etcd

Vulnerability type

Data Validation

Detail

The size of a record is stored in the length field of a WAL file and no additional validation is done on this data. Therefore, it is possible to forge an extremely large frame size that can unintentionally panic at the expense of any RAFT participant trying to decode the WAL.

Specific Go Packages Affected

github.com/etcd-io/etcd/wal

References

Find out more on this vulnerability in the security audit report

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

• Contact the etcd security committee

The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths. Typical impact: varies by context: data corruption, logic bypass, or denial of service.

CVE-2020-15106 has a CVSS score of 3.7 (Low). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.5.0-alpha.5.0.20200423152442-f4b650b51dc4); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

1. What is CVE-2020-15106? CVE-2020-15106 is a low-severity improper input validation vulnerability in go.etcd.io/etcd (go), affecting versions < 0.5.0-alpha.5.0.20200423152442-f4b650b51dc4. It is fixed in 0.5.0-alpha.5.0.20200423152442-f4b650b51dc4. The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths.
2. How severe is CVE-2020-15106? CVE-2020-15106 has a CVSS score of 3.7 (Low). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of go.etcd.io/etcd are affected by CVE-2020-15106? go.etcd.io/etcd (go) versions < 0.5.0-alpha.5.0.20200423152442-f4b650b51dc4 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2020-15106? Yes. CVE-2020-15106 is fixed in 0.5.0-alpha.5.0.20200423152442-f4b650b51dc4. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2020-15106 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2020-15106 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2020-15106 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2020-15106? Upgrade go.etcd.io/etcd to 0.5.0-alpha.5.0.20200423152442-f4b650b51dc4 or later.

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