FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject
CVE-2020-10941
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 · uneditedArm Mbed TLS before 2.16.5 allows attackers to obtain sensitive information (an RSA private key) by measuring cache usage during an import.
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 confidenceThis is a side-channel cache-timing vulnerability in Arm Mbed TLS versions prior to 2.16.5. Attackers can recover an RSA private key by measuring cache usage patterns during RSA key import operations, exploiting timing variations in cache access to leak key material.
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
FedoraOperating system
= 31= 32
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 10.0< 3.1.0< 2.16.5CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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 installed Mbed TLS versionLocate the Mbed TLS library in your environment and query its version. On Linux systems, check the package version (e.g., `rpm -q mbedtls` on Fedora, `dpkg -l libmbedtls*` on Debian) or inspect the library binary metadata if statically linked.Affected if The installed version is earlier than 2.16.5 (e.g., 2.16.0 through 2.16.4) or cannot be determined to be 2.16.5 or later
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Identify installed Mbed Crypto versionLocate the Mbed Crypto library and query its version. Check package managers or binary metadata as above for Mbed TLS. Mbed Crypto is often bundled with Mbed TLS.Affected if The installed version is earlier than 3.1.0 or cannot be determined to be 3.1.0 or later
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Determine if RSA key import operations occurAudit your application or system logs for RSA private key import operations, key loading into memory, or cryptographic key initialization routines that use Mbed TLS RSA functions (such as mbedtls_rsa_import, mbedtls_pk_parse_key, or similar). Review code that performs RSA key loading.Affected if RSA private keys are imported, loaded, or processed using Mbed TLS cryptographic functions on a vulnerable version
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Verify the Linux distribution versionIf Mbed TLS was installed via OS packages on Fedora 31 or 32, or Debian 10.0, check the OS version with `cat /etc/fedora-release` or `cat /etc/debian_version` and cross-reference with the package version of Mbed TLS installed.Affected if Running Fedora 31/32 or Debian 10.0 with the distribution-packaged Mbed TLS version that falls below 2.16.5
Your environment is affected if it runs Arm Mbed TLS earlier than version 2.16.5 or Mbed Crypto earlier than version 3.1.0 AND performs RSA key import or key loading operations where an attacker could measure cache timing patterns.
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 data2.16.53.1.0
Upgrade Mbed TLS to version 2.16.5 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider using hardware security modules (HSMs) or ensuring no untrusted parties have local access to measure cache usage during key operations.
Fix this in Fedora
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $4,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10941 — 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-2020-10941 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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