CVE-2020-22916
An issue discovered in XZ 5.2.5 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via decompression...
An issue discovered in XZ 5.2.5 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via decompression of a crafted file. NOTE: the vendor disputes the claims of "endless output" and "denial of service" because decompression of the 17,486 bytes always results in 114,881,179 bytes, which is often a reasonable size increase.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
An issue discovered in XZ 5.2.5 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via decompression of a crafted file. NOTE: the vendor disputes the claims of "endless output" and "denial of service" because decompression of the 17,486 bytes always results in 114,881,179 bytes, which is often a reasonable size increase.
- Record
CVE-2020-22916- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List
An issue discovered in XZ 5.2.5 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via decompression of a crafted file. NOTE: the vendor disputes the claims of "endless output" and "denial of service" because decompression of the 17,486 bytes always results in 114,881,179 bytes, which is often a reasonable size increase.
- Record
CVE-2020-22916- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-15672
An issue discovered in XZ 5.2.5 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via decompression of a crafted file. NOTE: the vendor disputes the claims of "endless output" and "denial of service" because decompression of the 17,486 bytes always results in 114,881,179 bytes, which is often a reasonable size increase.
- Record
EUVD-2020-15672- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-8rm5-v9qv-hvcc
An issue discovered in XZ 5.2.5 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via decompression...
An issue discovered in XZ 5.2.5 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via decompression of crafted file.
- Record
GHSA-8rm5-v9qv-hvcc- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
An issue discovered in XZ 5.2.5 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via decompression of a crafted file. NOTE: the vendor disputes the claims of "endless output" and "denial of service" because decompression of the 17,486 bytes always results in 114,881,179 bytes, which is often a reasonable size increase.
- Record
CVE-2020-22916- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-22916 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) in Tukaani Xz, published August 22, 2023. Its validity is disputed. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.25%, the 16th percentile.
References
tukaani.org/xz
github.com/snappyJack/CVE-request-XZ-5.2.5-has-denial-of-service-vulnerability
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-22916
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2234987
bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1214590
web.archive.org/web/20230918084612/https://github.com/snappyJack/CVE-request-XZ-5.2.5-has-denial-of-service-vulnerability
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-22916