CVE-2020-5235
Out-of-memory condition in Nanopb is potentially exploitable
There is a potentially exploitable out of memory condition In Nanopb before 0.4.1, 0.3.9.5, and 0.2.9.4. When nanopb is compiled with PB_ENABLE_MALLOC, the message to be decoded contains a repeated string, bytes or message field and realloc() runs out of memory when expanding the array nanopb can end up calling free() on a pointer value that comes from uninitialized memory. Depending on platform this can result in a crash or further memory corruption, which may be exploitable in some cases. This problem is fixed in nanopb-0.4.1, nanopb-0.3.9.5, nanopb-0.2.9.4.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Out-of-memory condition in Nanopb is potentially exploitable
There is a potentially exploitable out of memory condition In Nanopb before 0.4.1, 0.3.9.5, and 0.2.9.4. When nanopb is compiled with PB_ENABLE_MALLOC, the message to be decoded contains a repeated string, bytes or message field and realloc() runs out of memory when expanding the array nanopb can end up calling free() on a pointer value that comes from uninitialized memory. Depending on platform this can result in a crash or further memory corruption, which may be exploitable in some cases. This problem is fixed in nanopb-0.4.1, nanopb-0.3.9.5, nanopb-0.2.9.4.
- Record
CVE-2020-5235- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-125
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-26456
There is a potentially exploitable out of memory condition In Nanopb before 0.4.1, 0.3.9.5, and 0.2.9.4. When nanopb is compiled with PB_ENABLE_MALLOC, the message to be decoded contains a repeated string, bytes or message field and realloc() runs out of memory when expanding the array nanopb can end up calling free() on a pointer value that comes from uninitialized memory. Depending on platform this can result in a crash or further memory corruption, which may be exploitable in some cases. This problem is fixed in nanopb-0.4.1, nanopb-0.3.9.5, nanopb-0.2.9.4.
- Record
EUVD-2020-26456- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-6f6v-26gj-6crp No score
There is a potentially exploitable out of memory condition In Nanopb before 0.4.1, 0.3.9.5, and 0...
There is a potentially exploitable out of memory condition In Nanopb before 0.4.1, 0.3.9.5, and 0.2.9.4. When nanopb is compiled with PB_ENABLE_MALLOC, the message to be decoded contains a repeated string, bytes or message field and realloc() runs out of memory when expanding the array nanopb can end up calling free() on a pointer value that comes from uninitialized memory. Depending on platform this can result in a crash or further memory corruption, which may be exploitable in some cases. This problem is fixed in nanopb-0.4.1, nanopb-0.3.9.5, nanopb-0.2.9.4.
- Record
GHSA-6f6v-26gj-6crp- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
There is a potentially exploitable out of memory condition In Nanopb before 0.4.1, 0.3.9.5, and 0.2.9.4. When nanopb is compiled with PB_ENABLE_MALLOC, the message to be decoded contains a repeated string, bytes or message field and realloc() runs out of memory when expanding the array nanopb can end up calling free() on a pointer value that comes from uninitialized memory. Depending on platform this can result in a crash or further memory corruption, which may be exploitable in some cases. This problem is fixed in nanopb-0.4.1, nanopb-0.3.9.5, nanopb-0.2.9.4.
- Record
CVE-2020-5235- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L - CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.5 High
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-125
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
There is a potentially exploitable out of memory condition In Nanopb before 0.4.1, 0.3.9.5, and 0.2.9.4. When nanopb is compiled with PB_ENABLE_MALLOC, the message to be decoded contains a repeated string, bytes or message field and realloc() runs out of memory when expanding the array nanopb can end up calling free() on a pointer value that comes from uninitialized memory. Depending on platform this can result in a crash or further memory corruption, which may be exploitable in some cases. This problem is fixed in nanopb-0.4.1, nanopb-0.3.9.5, nanopb-0.2.9.4.
- Record
CVE-2020-5235- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:11074-1 No score
libprotobuf-nanopb0-0.4.5-1.3 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the libprotobuf-nanopb0-0.4.5-1.3 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:11074-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
nanopbopenSUSE:Tumbleweed From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 0.4.5-1.3 | 0.4.5-1.3 |
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-2020-5235 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in Nanopb, published February 4, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.73%, the 77th percentile. No source names a fixed version.
References
github.com/nanopb/nanopb/security/advisories/GHSA-gcx3-7m76-287p
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5235
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-26243