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CVE-2020-12883


Buffer over-reads were discovered in the CoAP library in Arm Mbed OS 5.15.3. The CoAP parser is responsible for parsing received CoAP packets. The function sn_coap_parser_options_parse() parses CoAP input linearly using a while loop. Once an option is parsed in a loop, the current point (*packet_data_pptr) is increased correspondingly. The pointer is restricted by the size of the received buffer, as well as by the option delta and option length bytes. The actual input packet length is not verified against the number of bytes read when processing the option extended delta and the option extended length. Moreover, the calculation of the message_left variable, in the case of non-extended option deltas, is incorrect and indicates more data left for processing than provided in the function input. All of these lead to heap-based or stack-based memory location read access that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. Depending on the platform-specific memory management mechanisms, it can lead to processing of unintended inputs or system memory access violation errors.


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a CRITICAL severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.1, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from arm organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2020, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.


Published

2020-06-18T19:15:09.893

Last Modified

2024-11-21T05:00:29.127

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 9.1 (CRITICAL)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P

  • Access Vector: NETWORK
  • Access Complexity: LOW
  • Authentication: NONE
  • Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
  • Integrity Impact: NONE
  • Availability Impact: PARTIAL
Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

4.9

Weaknesses
  • Type: Primary
    CWE-125

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Operating System arm mbed_os 5.15.3 Yes

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For arm's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.