CVE-2020-36475
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS)....
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS). The calculations performed by mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod are not limited; thus, supplying overly large parameters could lead to denial of service when generating Diffie-Hellman key pairs.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
7.5
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS). The calculations performed by mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod are not limited; thus, supplying overly large parameters could lead to denial of service when generating Diffie-Hellman key pairs.
- Record
CVE-2020-36475- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-131
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS). The calculations performed by mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod are not limited; thus, supplying overly large parameters could lead to denial of service when generating Diffie-Hellman key pairs.
- Record
CVE-2020-36475- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-23961 No score
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS). The calculations performed by mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod are not limited; thus, supplying overly large parameters could lead to denial of service when generating Diffie-Hellman key pairs.
- Record
EUVD-2020-23961- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7qm6-rr75-xc68
7.5
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS)....
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS). The calculations performed by mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod are not limited; thus, supplying overly large parameters could lead to denial of service when generating Diffie-Hellman key pairs.
- Record
GHSA-7qm6-rr75-xc68- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-131
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
7.5
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS). The calculations performed by mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod are not limited; thus, supplying overly large parameters could lead to denial of service when generating Diffie-Hellman key pairs.
- Record
CVE-2020-36475- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2020-36475
7.5
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS). The calculations performed by mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod are not limited; thus, supplying overly large parameters could lead to denial of service when generating Diffie-Hellman key pairs.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2020-36475- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVJLSEC-2025-210
7.5
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS)
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS). The calculations performed by mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod are not limited; thus, supplying overly large parameters could lead to denial of service when generating Diffie-Hellman key pairs.
- Record
JLSEC-2025-210- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2020-36475
7.5
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.25.0 (and before 2.16.9 LTS and before 2.7.18 LTS). The calculations performed by mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod are not limited; thus, supplying overly large parameters could lead to denial of service when generating Diffie-Hellman key pairs.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2020-36475- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
mbedtlsDebian:12 |
before 2.16.9-0.1 | 2.16.9-0.1 |
mbedtlsDebian:13 |
before 2.16.9-0.1 | 2.16.9-0.1 |
mbedtlsDebian:14 |
before 2.16.9-0.1 | 2.16.9-0.1 |
mbedtlsDebian:9 From an advisory covering 6 CVEs |
before 2.4.2-1+deb9u4, plus listed versions 2.4.2-12.4.2-1+deb9u12.4.2-1+deb9u1~bpo8+12.4.2-1+deb9u22.4.2-1+deb9u3 |
2.4.2-1+deb9u4 |
mbedtlsDebian:10 From an advisory covering 18 CVEs |
before 2.16.9-0~deb10u1, plus listed versions 2.16.0-12.16.2-12.16.3-12.16.4-12.16.5-1 |
2.16.9-0~deb10u1 |
MbedTLS_jllJulia |
before 2.25.0+0 | 2.25.0+0 |
mbedtlsUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2.1.2-12.2.0-12.2.1-12.2.1-22.2.1-2ubuntu0.12.2.1-2ubuntu0.22.2.1-2ubuntu0.3 |
None known |
mbedtlsUbuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2.5.1-1ubuntu12.6.0-12.7.0-22.8.0-12.8.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
None known |
mbedtlsUbuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 2.16.2-12.16.3-12.16.4-1ubuntu22.16.4-1ubuntu2+esm1 |
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-2020-36475 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Arm Mbed Tls, published August 23, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.92%, the 79th percentile. Fixed in mbedtls 2.16.9-0.1.
References
github.com/ARMmbed/mbedtls/releases/tag/v2.25.0
github.com/ARMmbed/mbedtls/releases/tag/v2.16.9
github.com/ARMmbed/mbedtls/releases/tag/v2.7.18
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-756638.pdf
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/11/msg00021.html
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/12/msg00036.html