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CVE-2020-3898

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS...

7.8 HighFix available

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. An application may be able to gain elevated privileges.

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.39%Up 0.3 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 7.8

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. An application may be able to gain elevated privileges.

Record
CVE-2020-3898
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
4.6 MediumAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-787
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. An application may be able to gain elevated privileges.

Record
CVE-2020-3898
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-25163 No score

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. An application may be able to gain elevated privileges.

Record
EUVD-2020-25163
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-82r2-pfjv-q743 No score

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS...

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. An application may be able to gain elevated privileges.

Record
GHSA-82r2-pfjv-q743
Weakness
CWE-119
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2020-3898 7.8

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. An application may be able to gain elevated privileges.

Record
ALPINE-CVE-2020-3898
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVBELL-CVE-2020-3898 7.8

CVE-2020-3898 does not affect BellSoft software

Record
BELL-CVE-2020-3898
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
Show 12 moreShow less
OSV 7.8

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. An application may be able to gain elevated privileges.

Record
CVE-2020-3898
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2020-3898 7.8

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. An application may be able to gain elevated privileges.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2020-3898
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2020:4469 4.5

Red Hat Security Advisory: cups security and bug fix update

Record
RHSA-2020:4469
CVSS 3.1
4.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVRLSA-2020:4469 4.5

Low: cups security and bug fix update

The Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) provides a portable printing layer for Linux, UNIX, and similar operating systems.

Security Fix(es):

  • cups: heap based buffer overflow in libcups's ppdFindOption() in ppd-mark.c (CVE-2020-3898)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Additional Changes:

For detailed information on changes in this release, see the Rocky Linux 8.3 Release Notes linked from the References section.

Record
RLSA-2020:4469
CVSS 3.1
4.5 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2020-3898 7.8

A memory corruption issue was addressed with improved validation. This issue is fixed in macOS Catalina 10.15.4. An application may be able to gain elevated privileges.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2020-3898
CVSS 3.1
7.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2020-0248 No score

Updated cups packages fix security vulnerability

Updated cups packages fix security vulnerabilities:

It was discovered that CUPS incorrectly handled certain language values. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to cause CUPS to crash, leading to a denial of service, or possibly obtain sensitive information (CVE-2019-2228).

Stephan Zeisberg discovered that the CUPS SNMP backend incorrectly handled encoded ASN.1 inputs. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to cause CUPS to crash by providing specially crafted network traffic (CVE-2019-8675, CVE-2019-8696).

The ippReadIO function may under-read an extension (CVE-2019-8842).

Stephan Zeisberg discovered that CUPS incorrectly handled certain malformed ppd files. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code (CVE-2020-3898).

The cups package has been updated to version 2.2.13 and patched to fix these issues and other bugs.

Also, this update will hopefully fix the cups service failing to start at boot on some systems.

Record
MGASA-2020-0248
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2020:0555-1 No score

Security update for cups

This update for cups fixes the following issues:

  • CVE-2020-3898: Fixed a heap buffer overflow in ppdFindOption() (bsc#1168422).

This update was imported from the SUSE:SLE-15:Update update project.

Record
openSUSE-SU-2020:0555-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:10707-1 No score

cups-2.3.3op2-4.2 on GA media

These are all security issues fixed in the cups-2.3.3op2-4.2 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:10707-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2020:1045-1 No score

Security update for cups

This update for cups fixes the following issues:

  • CVE-2020-3898: Fixed a heap buffer overflow in ppdFindOption() (bsc#1168422).
Record
SUSE-SU-2020:1045-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2020:1083-1 No score

Security update for cups

This update for cups fixes the following issues:

  • CVE-2020-3898: Fixed a heap buffer overflow in ppdFindOption() (bsc#1168422).
Record
SUSE-SU-2020:1083-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2020:14341-1 No score

Security update for cups

This update for cups fixes the following issues:

  • CVE-2020-3898: Fixed heap buffer overflow in libcups ppdFindOption() function (bsc#1168422).
Record
SUSE-SU-2020:14341-1
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUSN-4340-1 No score

cups vulnerabilities

It was discovered that CUPS incorrectly handled certain language values. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to cause CUPS to crash, leading to a denial of service, or possibly obtain sensitive information. This issue only applied to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 19.10. (CVE-2019-2228)

Stephan Zeisberg discovered that CUPS incorrectly handled certain malformed ppd files. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2020-3898)

Record
USN-4340-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
cups
Alpine:v3.10
 before 2.2.12-r1
2.2.12-r1
cups
Alpine:v3.11
 before 2.2.12-r2
2.2.12-r2
cups
Alpine:v3.12
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.13
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.14
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.15
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.16
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.17
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.18
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.19
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
Show 67 moreShow less
Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
cups
Alpine:v3.20
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.21
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.22
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.23
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.24
 before 2.3.3-r0
2.3.3-r0
cups
Alpine:v3.9
 before 2.2.12-r1
2.2.12-r1
cups
Debian:12
 before 2.3.1-12
2.3.1-12
cups
Debian:13
 before 2.3.1-12
2.3.1-12
cups
Debian:14
 before 2.3.1-12
2.3.1-12
cups
Debian:8
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 1.7.5-11+deb8u8, plus listed versions
1.7.5-111.7.5-11+deb8u11.7.5-11+deb8u21.7.5-11+deb8u31.7.5-11+deb8u41.7.5-11+deb8u51.7.5-11+deb8u61.7.5-11+deb8u7
1.7.5-11+deb8u8
cups
Mageia:7
From an advisory covering 5 CVEs
 before 2.2.13-1.2.mga7
2.2.13-1.2.mga7
cups
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-client
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-client-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-debugsource
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-devel
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-filesystem
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-ipptool
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-ipptool-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-libs-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-lpd
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-lpd-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-client-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-debugsource
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-ipptool-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-libs
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-libs-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups-lpd-debuginfo
Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups
Rocky Linux:8
 before 1:2.2.6-38.el8
1:2.2.6-38.el8
cups
SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:OpenStack Cloud 7
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:OpenStack Cloud 8
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 8
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP1
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP2
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP3
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP4
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP1-LTSS
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-LTSS
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-BCL
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3-LTSS
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3-BCL
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP4
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Enterprise Storage 5
 before 1.7.5-20.29.1
1.7.5-20.29.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1
 before 2.2.7-3.17.1
2.2.7-3.17.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP1
 before 2.2.7-3.17.1
2.2.7-3.17.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-ESPOS
 before 2.2.7-3.17.1
2.2.7-3.17.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-LTSS
 before 2.2.7-3.17.1
2.2.7-3.17.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15-LTSS
 before 2.2.7-3.17.1
2.2.7-3.17.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15
 before 2.2.7-3.17.1
2.2.7-3.17.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 11 SP3
 before 1.3.9-8.46.56.11.1
1.3.9-8.46.56.11.1
cups
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS
 before 1.3.9-8.46.56.11.1
1.3.9-8.46.56.11.1
cups
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
 before 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.11, plus listed versions
2.1.0-4ubuntu32.1.0-52.1.0-62.1.0-6ubuntu12.1.0-7
Show 15 moreShow less
2.1.2-12.1.2-22.1.3-12.1.3-1build12.1.3-32.1.3-42.1.3-4ubuntu0.22.1.3-4ubuntu0.32.1.3-4ubuntu0.42.1.3-4ubuntu0.52.1.3-4ubuntu0.62.1.3-4ubuntu0.72.1.3-4ubuntu0.82.1.3-4ubuntu0.92.1.3-4ubuntu0.10
2.1.3-4ubuntu0.11
cups
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
 before 2.2.7-1ubuntu2.8, plus listed versions
2.2.4-7ubuntu22.2.5-22.2.6-22.2.6-32.2.6-4
Show 10 moreShow less
2.2.6-52.2.7-1ubuntu12.2.7-1ubuntu22.2.7-1ubuntu2.12.2.7-1ubuntu2.22.2.7-1ubuntu2.32.2.7-1ubuntu2.42.2.7-1ubuntu2.52.2.7-1ubuntu2.62.2.7-1ubuntu2.7
2.2.7-1ubuntu2.8
cups
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS
 before 2.3.1-9ubuntu1.1, plus listed versions
2.2.12-2ubuntu12.3.0-62.3.0-72.3.0-7ubuntu12.3.1-1ubuntu1
Show 4 moreShow less
2.3.1-22.3.1-42.3.1-72.3.1-9ubuntu1
2.3.1-9ubuntu1.1
cups
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 2.1.3-4ubuntu0.11, plus listed versions
2.1.0-4ubuntu32.1.0-52.1.0-62.1.0-6ubuntu12.1.0-7
Show 15 moreShow less
2.1.2-12.1.2-22.1.3-12.1.3-1build12.1.3-32.1.3-42.1.3-4ubuntu0.22.1.3-4ubuntu0.32.1.3-4ubuntu0.42.1.3-4ubuntu0.52.1.3-4ubuntu0.62.1.3-4ubuntu0.72.1.3-4ubuntu0.82.1.3-4ubuntu0.92.1.3-4ubuntu0.10
2.1.3-4ubuntu0.11
cups
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 2.2.7-1ubuntu2.8, plus listed versions
2.2.4-7ubuntu22.2.5-22.2.6-22.2.6-32.2.6-4
Show 10 moreShow less
2.2.6-52.2.7-1ubuntu12.2.7-1ubuntu22.2.7-1ubuntu2.12.2.7-1ubuntu2.22.2.7-1ubuntu2.32.2.7-1ubuntu2.42.2.7-1ubuntu2.52.2.7-1ubuntu2.62.2.7-1ubuntu2.7
2.2.7-1ubuntu2.8
cups
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS
From an advisory covering 2 CVEs
 before 2.3.1-9ubuntu1.1, plus listed versions
2.2.12-2ubuntu12.3.0-62.3.0-72.3.0-7ubuntu12.3.1-1ubuntu1
Show 4 moreShow less
2.3.1-22.3.1-42.3.1-72.3.1-9ubuntu1
2.3.1-9ubuntu1.1
cups
openSUSE:Leap 15.1
 before 2.2.7-lp151.6.6.1
2.2.7-lp151.6.6.1
cups
openSUSE:Tumbleweed
From an advisory covering 20 CVEs
 before 2.3.3op2-4.2
2.3.3op2-4.2

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-2020-3898 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Apple Macos, published April 21, 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 cups 2.2.12-r1.

References

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