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BuffoonApplication · Buffoon Project

CVE-2020-36512

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-12-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
An issue was discovered in the buffoon crate through 2020-12-31 for Rust. InputStream::read_exact may read from uninitialized memory locations.

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 confidence

The buffoon Rust crate's InputStream::read_exact method contains a memory safety flaw where it may read from uninitialized memory locations instead of properly zeroed or initialized buffers. This could allow exposure of sensitive data from memory pages not properly initialized before the read operation.

MitigationUpdate the buffoon crate to a patched version that properly initializes memory before reading. Review all code paths using InputStream::read_exact to ensure no sensitive data leakage has occurred.

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
BuffoonApplication
Affected:= 0.5.0

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

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate buffoon in project dependencies
    Search your project's Cargo.toml file for 'buffoon' under [dependencies] or check Cargo.lock for buffoon entries
    Affected if buffoon is listed as a dependency with version 0.5.0 exactly
  2. Verify the exact buffoon version installed
    Run 'cargo tree -p buffoon' or inspect the Cargo.lock file to confirm the resolved version of the buffoon crate
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 0.5.0
  3. Identify use of InputStream::read_exact
    Search your source code for invocations of read_exact method on InputStream types, or grep for 'read_exact' in files that import buffoon
    Affected if Code calls InputStream::read_exact in your project

You are affected if buffoon version 0.5.0 is in your dependency tree AND your code calls the InputStream::read_exact method, as this combination triggers the uninitialized memory read vulnerability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the buffoon crate to a patched version that properly initializes memory before reading. Review all code paths using InputStream::read_exact to ensure no sensitive data leakage has occurred.

Fix this in Buffoon Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,210
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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-2020-36512 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data