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Ros CommApplication · Ros

CVE-2020-16124

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-10-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.15.9 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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 · unedited
Integer Overflow or Wraparound vulnerability in the XML RPC library of OpenRobotics ros_comm communications packages allows unauthenticated network traffic to cause unexpected behavior. This issue affects: OpenRobotics ros_comm communications packages Noetic and prior versions. Fixed in https://github.com/ros/ros_comm/pull/2065.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-190

An arithmetic operation produces a value too large for its type and wraps around to an unexpected — often tiny or negative — number. That miscalculated value then drives a memory allocation or a bounds check, opening the door to corruption. The fix is checked arithmetic and validating sizes before they're used.

General guidance for the integer overflow class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Ros CommApplication
Affected:< 1.15.9

CVSS 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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.15.9 or later
Fixed in 1.15.9
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

ros_comm 1.15.9

  1. Identify the ros_comm installation method used (e.g., apt package, source build, or catkin workspace)
  2. For apt installations: Run 'sudo apt update' followed by 'sudo apt upgrade ros-comm' or 'sudo apt install ros-comm=1.15.9' to get the fixed version
  3. For source/catkin builds: Navigate to the ros_comm source directory and run 'git fetch origin' followed by 'git checkout 1.15.9' or 'git pull origin 1.15.9' to checkout the fixed tag
  4. Rebuild the workspace using 'catkin_make' or 'catkin build' after updating the code
  5. Verify the installed version by checking the ros_comm package version (e.g., 'rosversion ros_comm' or inspecting package.xml)
  6. Restart any ROS nodes/services to ensure the updated library is loaded

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,550. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-16124 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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