CVE-2020-10936

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

7.8 HighFix available

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector: Local
Complexity: Low
Privileges needed: Low
User interaction: None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Exploit likelihood

0.48%Down 1.4 points since Apr 14, 2021

What each source reports

NVD Score used 7.8

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

Record: CVE-2020-10936
CVSS 3.1: 7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0: 7.2 HighAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Weakness: CWE-269
Updated: 2026-11-02

CVE List No score

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

Record: CVE-2020-10936
Updated: 2026-11-02

EUVDEUVD-2020-3342 No score

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

Record: EUVD-2020-3342
Updated: 2026-11-03

GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-cv52-3f6r-76gp 7.8

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

Record: GHSA-cv52-3f6r-76gp
CVSS 3.1: 7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness: CWE-269
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSV 7.8

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

Record: CVE-2020-10936
CVSS 3.1: 7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2020-10936 7.8

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

Record: DEBIAN-CVE-2020-10936
CVSS 3.1: 7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2020-10936 7.8

Sympa before 6.2.56 allows privilege escalation.

Record: UBUNTU-CVE-2020-10936
CVSS 3.1: 7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVUSN-4442-1 No score

sympa vulnerabilities

Michael Kaczmarczik discovered that Sympa incorrectly handled HTTP GET/POST requests. An attacker could possibly use this issue to insert, edit or obtain sensitive information. (CVE-2018-1000550)

It was discovered that Sympa incorrectly handled URL parameters. An attacker could possibly use this issue to perform XSS attacks. (CVE-2018-1000671)

Nicolas Chatelain discovered that Sympa incorrectly handled environment variables. An attacker could possibly use this issue with a setuid binary and gain root privileges. (CVE-2020-10936)

Record: USN-4442-1
Updated: 2026-11-02

OSVUSN-4442-2 No score

sympa vulnerabilities

USN-4442-1 fixed vulnerabilities in Sympa. This update provides the corresponding updates for Ubuntu 16.04 ESM, Ubuntu 18.04 ESM and Ubuntu 20.04 ESM. Original advisory details:

Nicolas Chatelain discovered that Sympa incorrectly handled environment variables. An attacker could possibly use this issue with a setuid binary and gain root privileges. (CVE-2020-10936)

Michael Kaczmarczik discovered that Sympa incorrectly handled HTTP GET/POST requests. An attacker could possibly use this issue to insert, edit or obtain sensitive information. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 ESM and Ubuntu 18.04 ESM. (CVE-2018-1000550)

It was discovered that Sympa incorrectly handled URL parameters. An attacker could possibly use this issue to perform XSS attacks. This issue only affected Ubuntu 16.04 ESM and Ubuntu 18.04 ESM. (CVE-2018-1000671)

Record: USN-4442-2
Updated: 2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
Package	Affected	Fixed
`sympa` Debian:12	before 6.2.40~dfsg-5	6.2.40~dfsg-5
`sympa` Debian:13	before 6.2.40~dfsg-5	6.2.40~dfsg-5
`sympa` Debian:14	before 6.2.40~dfsg-5	6.2.40~dfsg-5
`sympa` Debian:9 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs	before 6.2.16~dfsg-3+deb9u3, plus listed versions 6.2.16~dfsg-36.2.16~dfsg-3+deb9u16.2.16~dfsg-3+deb9u2	6.2.16~dfsg-3+deb9u3
`sympa` Debian:10 From an advisory covering 4 CVEs	before 6.2.40~dfsg-1+deb10u1, plus listed versions 6.2.40~dfsg-1	6.2.40~dfsg-1+deb10u1
`sympa` Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS	before 6.1.17~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 6.1.11~dfsg-56.1.17~dfsg-1	6.1.17~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
`sympa` Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS	before 6.1.24~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 6.1.24~dfsg-1	6.1.24~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
`sympa` Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS	before 6.2.24~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 6.2.18~dfsg-16.2.22~dfsg-16.2.24~dfsg-1	6.2.24~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
`sympa` Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS	before 6.2.40~dfsg-4ubuntu0.20.04.1~esm1, plus listed versions 6.2.40~dfsg-16.2.40~dfsg-36.2.40~dfsg-4	6.2.40~dfsg-4ubuntu0.20.04.1~esm1
`sympa` Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS From an advisory covering 3 CVEs	before 6.1.17~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 6.1.11~dfsg-56.1.17~dfsg-1	6.1.17~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
`sympa` Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS From an advisory covering 3 CVEs	before 6.1.24~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 6.1.24~dfsg-1	6.1.24~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
`sympa` Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS From an advisory covering 3 CVEs	before 6.2.24~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1, plus listed versions 6.2.18~dfsg-16.2.22~dfsg-16.2.24~dfsg-1	6.2.24~dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
`sympa` Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS From an advisory covering 3 CVEs	before 6.2.40~dfsg-4ubuntu0.20.04.1~esm1, plus listed versions 6.2.40~dfsg-16.2.40~dfsg-36.2.40~dfsg-4	6.2.40~dfsg-4ubuntu0.20.04.1~esm1

History

History
Recorded	Changed	Sources
Nov 6, 2026	affected, facts
Nov 3, 2026	aliases	EUVD
Nov 2, 2026	first indexed	CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2020-10936 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Sympa, published May 27, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.48%, the 41st percentile. Fixed in sympa 6.2.40~dfsg-5.

References

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