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CVE-2020-10255

CRITICALCVSS 9/10EPSS 2.51%

Last modified

CVE-2020-10255 is a critical-severity vulnerability rated 9/10 on the CVSS scale. Modern DRAM chips (DDR4 and LPDDR4 after 2015) are affected by a vulnerability in deployment of internal mitigations against RowHammer attacks known as Target Row Refresh (TRR), aka the TRRespass issue. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needs to create certain access patterns to trigger bit flips on affected memory modules, aka a Many-sided RowHammer attack. EPSS estimates a 2.51% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

Modern DRAM chips (DDR4 and LPDDR4 after 2015) are affected by a vulnerability in deployment of internal mitigations against RowHammer attacks known as Target Row Refresh (TRR), aka the TRRespass issue. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needs to create certain access patterns to trigger bit flips on affected memory modules, aka a Many-sided RowHammer attack. This means that, even when chips advertised as RowHammer-free are used, attackers may still be able to conduct privilege-escalation attacks against the kernel, conduct privilege-escalation attacks against the Sudo binary, and achieve cross-tenant virtual-machine access by corrupting RSA keys. The issue affects chips produced by SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung. NOTE: tracking DRAM supply-chain issues is not straightforward because a single product model from a single vendor may use DRAM chips from different manufacturers.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
9/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Probability
2.51%

82.8th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

VendorProductVersions
MicronDdr4 SdramAll versions
MicronLpddr4All versions
SamsungDdr4All versions
SamsungLpddr4All versions
SkhynixDdr4 SdramAll versions
SkhynixLpddr4All versions

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-10255?
Modern DRAM chips (DDR4 and LPDDR4 after 2015) are affected by a vulnerability in deployment of internal mitigations against RowHammer attacks known as Target Row Refresh (TRR), aka the TRRespass issue. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needs to create certain access patterns to trigger bit flips on affected memory modules, aka a Many-sided RowHammer attack. This means that, even when chips advertised as RowHammer-free are used, attackers may still be able to conduct privilege-escalation attacks against the kernel, conduct privilege-escalation attacks against the Sudo binary, and achieve cross-tenant virtual-machine access by corrupting RSA keys. The issue affects chips produced by SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung. NOTE: tracking DRAM supply-chain issues is not straightforward because a single product model from a single vendor may use DRAM chips from different manufacturers.
How severe is CVE-2020-10255?
CVE-2020-10255 has a CVSS score of 9/10 (CRITICAL severity). The EPSS model estimates a 2.51% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2020-10255?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

Are you affected by CVE-2020-10255?

Run a free Strix scan to check your systems for this vulnerability.

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Source: NVD / NIST