CVE-2020-24352
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in QEMU through 5.1.0. An out-of-bounds memory access was found in the ATI VGA device implementation. This flaw occurs in the ati_2d_blt() routine in hw/display/ati_2d.c while handling MMIO write operations through the ati_mm_write() callback. A malicious guest could use this flaw to crash the QEMU process on the host, resulting in a denial of service.
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 confidenceAn out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability in QEMU's ATI VGA device emulation (the ati_2d_blt function in hw/display/ati_2d.c) allows a malicious guest to crash the QEMU process by triggering the flaw through MMIO write operations via the ati_mm_write() callback. The flaw occurs during 2D blit operations without proper bounds checking.
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<= 4.2.1= 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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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Check QEMU versionRun 'qemu-system-x86_64 --version' or check the installed QEMU package version on the host systemAffected if Version is 4.2.1 or earlier, or exactly 5.0.0
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Identify running QEMU processesUse 'ps aux | grep qemu' or check hypervisor logs to find active QEMU virtual machine processesAffected if QEMU processes are running with the vulnerable version identified above
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Check for ATI VGA device emulationInspect the QEMU command line arguments for the VM process, looking for '-device ati-vga', '-device VGA', or similar ATI/Radeon device arguments in the vm configurationAffected if ATI VGA device (ati-vga or similar) is being emulated for the guest VM
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Verify MMIO access to the deviceCheck VM configuration or QEMU arguments for PCI passthrough or device assignment that allows the guest direct MMIO access to the emulated ATI deviceAffected if Guest has MMIO write access to the emulated ATI device through the ati_mm_write callback
The environment is affected if running QEMU version 4.2.1 or earlier, or exactly 5.0.0, with ATI VGA device emulation enabled and guest MMIO access to that device.
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 dataUpgrade QEMU to a version after 5.1.0 that includes the patch for this vulnerability. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, consider disabling the ATI VGA device emulation or using a hypervisor that provides stronger guest isolation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-24352 — 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-2020-24352 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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