CVE-2020-16123
Bypass of snapd pulseaudio restrictions
CVE-2020-16123 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.4) in Canonical Pulseaudio, published November 23, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.32%, the 24th percentile. Fixed in pulseaudio 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.15.
An Ubuntu-specific patch in PulseAudio created a race condition where the snap policy module would fail to identify a client connection from a snap as coming from a snap if SCM_CREDENTIALS were missing, allowing the snap to connect to PulseAudio without proper confinement. This could be exploited by an attacker to expose sensitive information. Fixed in 1:13.99.3-1ubuntu2, 1:13.99.2-1ubuntu2.1, 1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.8, 1:11.1-1ubuntu7.11, and 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.15.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Bypass of snapd pulseaudio restrictions
An Ubuntu-specific patch in PulseAudio created a race condition where the snap policy module would fail to identify a client connection from a snap as coming from a snap if SCM_CREDENTIALS were missing, allowing the snap to connect to PulseAudio without proper confinement. This could be exploited by an attacker to expose sensitive information. Fixed in 1:13.99.3-1ubuntu2, 1:13.99.2-1ubuntu2.1, 1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.8, 1:11.1-1ubuntu7.11, and 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.15.
- Record
CVE-2020-16123- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-362
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-8089
An Ubuntu-specific patch in PulseAudio created a race condition where the snap policy module would fail to identify a client connection from a snap as coming from a snap if SCM_CREDENTIALS were missing, allowing the snap to connect to PulseAudio without proper confinement. This could be exploited by an attacker to expose sensitive information. Fixed in 1:13.99.3-1ubuntu2, 1:13.99.2-1ubuntu2.1, 1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.8, 1:11.1-1ubuntu7.11, and 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.15.
- Record
EUVD-2020-8089- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-h38w-g4mp-rwv7 No score
An Ubuntu-specific patch in PulseAudio created a race condition where the snap policy module...
An Ubuntu-specific patch in PulseAudio created a race condition where the snap policy module would fail to identify a client connection from a snap as coming from a snap if SCM_CREDENTIALS were missing, allowing the snap to connect to PulseAudio without proper confinement. This could be exploited by an attacker to expose sensitive information. Fixed in 1:13.99.3-1ubuntu2, 1:13.99.2-1ubuntu2.1, 1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.8, 1:11.1-1ubuntu7.11, and 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.15.
- Record
GHSA-h38w-g4mp-rwv7- Weakness
- CWE-362
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
An Ubuntu-specific patch in PulseAudio created a race condition where the snap policy module would fail to identify a client connection from a snap as coming from a snap if SCM_CREDENTIALS were missing, allowing the snap to connect to PulseAudio without proper confinement. This could be exploited by an attacker to expose sensitive information. Fixed in 1:13.99.3-1ubuntu2, 1:13.99.2-1ubuntu2.1, 1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.8, 1:11.1-1ubuntu7.11, and 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.15.
- Record
CVE-2020-16123- CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 4.7 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 2.1 Low
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-362
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2020-16123
An Ubuntu-specific patch in PulseAudio created a race condition where the snap policy module would fail to identify a client connection from a snap as coming from a snap if SCM_CREDENTIALS were missing, allowing the snap to connect to PulseAudio without proper confinement. This could be exploited by an attacker to expose sensitive information. Fixed in 1:13.99.3-1ubuntu2, 1:13.99.2-1ubuntu2.1, 1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.8, 1:11.1-1ubuntu7.11, and 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.15.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2020-16123- CVSS 3.1
- 4.7 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 4.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-4640-1 No score
pulseaudio vulnerability
James Henstridge discovered that an Ubuntu-specific patch caused PulseAudio to incorrectly handle snap client connections. An attacker could possibly use this to expose sensitive information.
- Record
USN-4640-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
pulseaudioUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
before 1:8.0-0ubuntu3.15, plus listed versions 1:6.0-0ubuntu131:7.1-1ubuntu11:7.1-1ubuntu21:7.1-1ubuntu31:7.1-1ubuntu6 Show 14 moreShow less1:7.1-1ubuntu71:8.0-0ubuntu21:8.0-0ubuntu31:8.0-0ubuntu3.11:8.0-0ubuntu3.21:8.0-0ubuntu3.31:8.0-0ubuntu3.41:8.0-0ubuntu3.71:8.0-0ubuntu3.81:8.0-0ubuntu3.91:8.0-0ubuntu3.101:8.0-0ubuntu3.111:8.0-0ubuntu3.121:8.0-0ubuntu3.14 |
1:8.0-0ubuntu3.15 |
pulseaudioUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
before 1:11.1-1ubuntu7.11, plus listed versions 1:10.0-2ubuntu31:11.1-1ubuntu11:11.1-1ubuntu21:11.1-1ubuntu41:11.1-1ubuntu5 Show 10 moreShow less1:11.1-1ubuntu61:11.1-1ubuntu71:11.1-1ubuntu7.11:11.1-1ubuntu7.21:11.1-1ubuntu7.41:11.1-1ubuntu7.51:11.1-1ubuntu7.71:11.1-1ubuntu7.81:11.1-1ubuntu7.91:11.1-1ubuntu7.10 |
1:11.1-1ubuntu7.11 |
pulseaudioUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
before 1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.8, plus listed versions 1:13.0-1ubuntu11:13.0-1ubuntu41:13.0-1ubuntu51:13.0-3ubuntu11:13.0-3ubuntu2 Show 9 moreShow less1:13.99.1-1ubuntu11:13.99.1-1ubuntu21:13.99.1-1ubuntu31:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.21:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.31:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.41:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.51:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.61:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.7 |
1:13.99.1-1ubuntu3.8 |
History
| When | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-03 | aliases | EUVD |
| 2026-11-02 | created | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |