CVE-2020-10702
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedA flaw was found in QEMU in the implementation of the Pointer Authentication (PAuth) support for ARM introduced in version 4.0 and fixed in version 5.0.0. A general failure of the signature generation process caused every PAuth-enforced pointer to be signed with the same signature. A local attacker could obtain the signature of a protected pointer and abuse this flaw to bypass PAuth protection for all programs running on QEMU.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceA flaw in QEMU's ARM Pointer Authentication (PAuth) implementation (versions 4.0 to <5.0.0) causes all PAuth-enforced pointers to be signed with an identical signature due to a signature generation process failure. A local attacker can obtain this signature and bypass PAuth protection for all programs running on the affected QEMU guest.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data>= 4.0.0, < 5.0.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify QEMU installation and binaryRun `which qemu-system-aarch64` or check your package manager for installed QEMU packages (e.g., `dpkg -l | grep qemu`, `rpm -qa | grep qemu`, or `brew list qemu`)Affected if QEMU is installed but the version falls within 4.0.0 to less than 5.0.0
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Determine exact QEMU versionRun `qemu-system-aarch64 --version` or `qemu-system-arm --version` and note the full version string (e.g., 4.2.0, 4.1.1)Affected if The version is >= 4.0.0 and < 5.0.0
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Check if ARM guest emulation with PAuth is in useExamine your QEMU command line or VM configuration for `-cpu` flags specifying ARMv8.3+ features such as `+pauth` or CPU models like `cortex-a57` that may expose PAuth, or inspect XML config for `<model>` values in libvirt domainsAffected if An ARM guest is configured with PAuth-capable CPU (ARMv8.3-A or later) exposed to the guest
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Verify host architecture capabilityCheck host CPU for PAuth support via `grep -o pauth /proc/cpuinfo` on ARM hosts, or note that PAuth is emulated for x86 hosts running ARM guestsAffected if The QEMU host lacks native PAuth but the guest is configured to use it (affects all ARM guests in the vulnerable version range)
You are affected if QEMU version is 4.0.0 or higher but below 5.0.0 AND you run ARM guests with PAuth-enabled CPU configurations (ARMv8.3-A or later).
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data5.0.0
Upgrade QEMU to version 5.0.0 or later to obtain the patched PAuth implementation. For systems where upgrade is not immediately feasible, consider restricting local attacker access to the QEMU host.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10702 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-10702 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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