CVE-2020-29482
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute...
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
6.0
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.
- Record
CVE-2020-29482- CVSS 3.1
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 4.9 Medium
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-426
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.
- Record
CVE-2020-29482- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-21850 No score
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.
- Record
EUVD-2020-21850- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-8458-3j4r-x5w4
6.0
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute...
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.
- Record
GHSA-8458-3j4r-x5w4- CVSS 3.1
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-426
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2020-29482
6.0
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.
- Record
ALPINE-CVE-2020-29482- CVSS 3.1
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
6.0
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.
- Record
CVE-2020-29482- CVSS 3.1
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2020-29482
6.0
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2020-29482- CVSS 3.1
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2020-29482
6.0
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2020-29482- CVSS 3.1
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
xenAlpine:v3.11 |
before 4.13.2-r3 | 4.13.2-r3 |
xenAlpine:v3.12 |
before 4.13.2-r3 | 4.13.2-r3 |
xenAlpine:v3.13 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.14 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.15 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.16 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.17 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.18 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.19 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.20 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
Show 11 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
xenAlpine:v3.21 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.22 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.23 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenAlpine:v3.24 |
before 4.14.1-r0 | 4.14.1-r0 |
xenDebian:12 |
before 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1 | 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1 |
xenDebian:13 |
before 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1 | 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1 |
xenDebian:14 |
before 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1 | 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1 |
xenDebian:10 From an advisory covering 11 CVEs |
before 4.11.4+57-g41a822c392-2, plus listed versions 4.11.1+92-g6c33308a8d-24.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-14.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1~deb10u14.11.4+24-gddaaccbbab-14.11.4+24-gddaaccbbab-1~deb10u14.11.4+37-g3263f257ca-14.11.4+57-g41a822c392-14.11.4-1 |
4.11.4+57-g41a822c392-2 |
xenUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.5.1-0ubuntu14.5.1-0ubuntu24.6.0-1ubuntu14.6.0-1ubuntu24.6.0-1ubuntu4 Show 7 moreShow less4.6.0-1ubuntu4.14.6.0-1ubuntu4.24.6.0-1ubuntu4.34.6.5-0ubuntu14.6.5-0ubuntu1.14.6.5-0ubuntu1.24.6.5-0ubuntu1.4 |
None known |
xenUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.9.0-0ubuntu34.9.0-0ubuntu44.9.2-0ubuntu1 |
None known |
xenUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.9.2-0ubuntu24.9.2-0ubuntu64.9.2-0ubuntu74.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1ubuntu14.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1ubuntu24.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1ubuntu2.24.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1ubuntu2.3 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, facts | ||
| 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-2020-29482 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.0) in Xen, published December 15, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.39%, the 33rd percentile. Fixed in xen 4.13.2-r3.
References
xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-323.html
debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4812
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OBLV6L6Q24PPQ2CRFXDX4Q76KU776GKI
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2C6M6S3CIMEBACH6O7V4H2VDANMO6TVA
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-29482
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/2C6M6S3CIMEBACH6O7V4H2VDANMO6TVA
Show 7 moreShow less
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/OBLV6L6Q24PPQ2CRFXDX4Q76KU776GKI
github.com/advisories/GHSA-8458-3j4r-x5w4
security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-29482
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-29482
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-29482
xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-323.html
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-29482