Skip to main content

Upx CVE-2019-20053

MEDIUM
Buffer Overflow (CWE-119)
2019-12-27 cve@mitre.org
5.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, buffer size validation
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 5.5 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A local attacker with access to the system could corrupt memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 1.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAI

An invalid memory address dereference was discovered in the canUnpack function in p_mach.cpp in UPX 3.95 via a crafted Mach-O file. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Use memory-safe languages or bounds-checking. Enable ASLR, DEP/NX, stack canaries. Use safe string functions.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Buffer Overflow (CWE-119), which allows attackers to corrupt memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application. An invalid memory address dereference was discovered in the canUnpack function in p_mach.cpp in UPX 3.95 via a crafted Mach-O file. Affected products include: Upx, Opensuse Backports, Opensuse Leap.

Know when Upx gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

An invalid memory address dereference was discovered in the canUnpack function in p_mach.cpp in UPX 3.95 via a crafted Mach-O file.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
1.2%
Top 35% exploitable
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC Yes
EPSS 1.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

49
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +28
PoC: +20
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:upx:upx:3.95:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:backports:sle-15:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More in Upx

View all
CVE-2024-3209 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Apr 02

A vulnerability was found in UPX up to 4.2.2. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploit

CVE-2021-30500 HIGH POC
7.8 May 27

Null pointer dereference was found in upx PackLinuxElf::canUnpack() in p_lx_elf.cpp,in version UPX 4.0.0. Rated high sev

CVE-2019-14296 HIGH POC
7.8 Jul 27

canUnpack in p_vmlinx.cpp in UPX 3.95 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (SEGV or buffer overflow, and

CVE-2018-11243 HIGH POC
7.8 May 18

PackLinuxElf64::unpack in p_lx_elf.cpp in UPX 3.95 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (double free), l

CVE-2021-20285 MEDIUM POC
6.6 Mar 26

A flaw was found in upx canPack in p_lx_elf.cpp in UPX 3.96. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.6), this vulnerability is no

CVE-2023-23457 MEDIUM POC
5.5 Jan 12

A Segmentation fault was found in UPX in PackLinuxElf64::invert_pt_dynamic() in p_lx_elf.cpp. Rated medium severity (CVS

CVE-2023-23456 MEDIUM POC
5.5 Jan 12

A heap-based buffer overflow issue was discovered in UPX in PackTmt::pack() in p_tmt.cpp file. Rated medium severity (CV

CVE-2021-30501 MEDIUM POC
5.5 May 27

An assertion abort was found in upx MemBuffer::alloc() in mem.cpp, in version UPX 4.0.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5

CVE-2019-20051 MEDIUM POC
5.5 Dec 27

A floating-point exception was discovered in PackLinuxElf::elf_hash in p_lx_elf.cpp in UPX 3.95. Rated medium severity (

CVE-2019-20021 MEDIUM POC
5.5 Dec 27

A heap-based buffer over-read was discovered in canUnpack in p_mach.cpp in UPX 3.95 via a crafted Mach-O file. Rated med

CVE-2019-14295 MEDIUM POC
5.5 Jul 27

An Integer overflow in the getElfSections function in p_vmlinx.cpp in UPX 3.95 allows remote attackers to cause a denial

CVE-2025-2849 MEDIUM POC
4.8 Mar 27

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in UPX up to 5.0.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), th

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy