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CVE-2020-29485

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES...

5.5 MediumFix available

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.40%Down 0.6 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 5.5

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2020-29485
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.0
4.9 MediumAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
Weakness
CWE-401
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2020-29485
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-21853 No score

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

Record
EUVD-2020-21853
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-5x7q-6f7m-fc5c No score

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES...

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

Record
GHSA-5x7q-6f7m-fc5c
Weakness
CWE-401
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2020-29485 5.5

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

Record
ALPINE-CVE-2020-29485
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 5.5

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2020-29485
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2020-29485 5.5

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2020-29485
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2020-29485 5.5

An issue was discovered in Xen 4.6 through 4.14.x. When acting upon a guest XS_RESET_WATCHES request, not all tracking information is freed. A guest can cause unbounded memory usage in oxenstored. This can lead to a system-wide DoS. Only systems using the Ocaml Xenstored implementation are vulnerable. Systems using the C Xenstored implementation are not vulnerable.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2020-29485
CVSS 3.1
5.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
xen
Alpine:v3.11
 4.6.0 up to 4.13.2-r3
4.13.2-r3
xen
Alpine:v3.12
 4.6.0 up to 4.13.2-r3
4.13.2-r3
xen
Alpine:v3.13
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.14
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.15
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.16
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.17
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.18
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.19
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.20
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
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Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
xen
Alpine:v3.21
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.22
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.23
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.24
 4.6.0 up to 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Debian:12
 before 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
xen
Debian:13
 before 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
xen
Debian:14
 before 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
xen
Debian: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
xen
Ubuntu: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 less
4.6.0-1ubuntu4.14.6.0-1ubuntu4.24.6.0-1ubuntu4.34.6.5-0ubuntu14.6.5-0ubuntu1.14.6.5-0ubuntu1.24.6.5-0ubuntu1.4
 None known
xen
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
 All versions, plus listed versions
4.9.0-0ubuntu34.9.0-0ubuntu44.9.2-0ubuntu1
 None known
xen
Ubuntu: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

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

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

In short

CVE-2020-29485 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) in Xen, published December 15, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.40%, the 35th percentile. Fixed in xen 4.13.2-r3.

References

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