CVE-2020-15707
Integer overflows were discovered in the functions grub_cmd_initrd and grub_initrd_init in the efilinux component of GRUB2, as shipped in Debian, Red Hat, and Ubuntu (the functionality is not included in GRUB2 upstream), leading to a heap-based buffer overflow. These could be triggered by an extremely large number of arguments to the initrd command on 32-bit architectures, or a crafted filesystem with very large files on any architecture. An attacker could use this to execute arbitrary code and bypass UEFI Secure Boot restrictions. This issue affects GRUB2 version 2.04 and prior versions.
Key facts
- CVSS score
- 5.7 (v3.1)
- Severity
- MEDIUM
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H- Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-362
- EPSS score
- 1.6% (75th percentile)
- In CISA KEV
- No
- In EU EUVD
- Yes (EUVD-2020-7693)
- Published
- July 29, 2020
- NVD last modified
- June 17, 2026
- Status
- Modified
EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD)
This vulnerability is also tracked by ENISA as EUVD-2020-7693 in the EU Vulnerability Database. Last updated in EUVD on September 17, 2024.
View on the EU Vulnerability DatabaseAffected products
- canonical / ubuntu linux
- canonical / ubuntu linux
- canonical / ubuntu linux
- canonical / ubuntu linux
- debian / debian linux
- gnu / grub2
- microsoft / windows 10
- microsoft / windows 10
- microsoft / windows 10
- microsoft / windows 10
- microsoft / windows 10
- microsoft / windows 10
- microsoft / windows 10
- microsoft / windows 10
- microsoft / windows 8.1
- microsoft / windows rt 8.1
- microsoft / windows server 2012
- microsoft / windows server 2012
- microsoft / windows server 2016
- microsoft / windows server 2016
- microsoft / windows server 2016
- microsoft / windows server 2016
- microsoft / windows server 2019
- netapp / active iq unified manager
- opensuse / leap
- opensuse / leap
- redhat / enterprise linux
- redhat / enterprise linux
- redhat / enterprise linux atomic host
- redhat / openshift container platform
- suse / suse linux enterprise server
- suse / suse linux enterprise server
- suse / suse linux enterprise server
Certified products that may be affected
29 FIPS 140 or Common Criteria certified products, from automated matching by sec-certs.org.
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 NSS Cryptographic Module - Red Hat, Inc. - FIPS 140 5513 - active
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Kernel Cryptographic API - Red Hat, LLC - FIPS 140 5461 - active
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Kernel Cryptographic API - Red Hat, Inc. - FIPS 140 5089 - active
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Version 15 SP2 - SUSE LLC - Common Criteria BSI-DSZ-CC-1168-2021 - active
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 OpenSSL Cryptographic Module - Red Hat®, Inc. - FIPS 140 4642 - historical
See all 29 in the Security Certifications Explorer.
References
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00016.html(Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-08/msg00017.html(Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- http://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4432-1(Third Party Advisory)
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/07/29/3(Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- https://access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/grub2bootloader(Third Party Advisory)
- https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/grub-devel/2020-07/msg00034.html(Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory)
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/ADV200011(Patch, Third Party Advisory, Vendor Advisory)
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202104-05(Third Party Advisory)
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200731-0008/(Third Party Advisory)
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4432-1/(Third Party Advisory)
- https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SecurityTeam/KnowledgeBase/GRUB2SecureBootBypass(Third Party Advisory)
- https://www.debian.org/security/2020-GRUB-UEFI-SecureBoot(Third Party Advisory)
- https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4735(Third Party Advisory)
- https://www.eclypsium.com/2020/07/29/theres-a-hole-in-the-boot/(Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/07/29/3(Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- https://www.suse.com/c/suse-addresses-grub2-secure-boot-issue/(Third Party Advisory)
- https://www.suse.com/support/kb/doc/?id=000019673(Third Party Advisory)
Last updated September 17, 2026 · Source: NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS
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