FreeBSDOperating system
CVE-2020-7460
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 · uneditedIn FreeBSD 12.1-STABLE before r363918, 12.1-RELEASE before p8, 11.4-STABLE before r363919, 11.4-RELEASE before p2, and 11.3-RELEASE before p12, the sendmsg system call in the compat32 subsystem on 64-bit platforms has a time-of-check to time-of-use vulnerability allowing a mailcious userspace program to modify control message headers after they were validation.
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 TOCTOU (time-of-check to time-of-use) vulnerability in FreeBSD's compat32 subsystem sendmsg system call on 64-bit platforms allows a local malicious userspace program to modify control message headers after they have been validated, potentially leading to local privilege escalation.
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
FreeBSDOperating system
= 11.3= 11.4= 12.1CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Determine FreeBSD versionRun `uname -r` or `freebsd-version -u` to get the installed FreeBSD version numberAffected if The version is 11.3, 11.4, or 12.1 (e.g., 12.1-RELEASE)
-
Confirm 64-bit architectureRun `uname -m` to check the machine architectureAffected if The output shows amd64 (indicating 64-bit x86 architecture)
-
Check if 32-bit compatibility layer is activeLook for compat32 kernel modules: `kldstat | grep compat32` or check for loaded 32-bit emulation subsystemsAffected if The compat32 or ia32 compatibility modules are loaded (this indicates 32-bit compatibility layer is active on the 64-bit system)
-
Identify running 32-bit binariesUse `procstat -a` or examine `/usr/lib32` directory existence: `ls -la /usr/lib32`Affected if The system has 32-bit libraries in /usr/lib32 or runs 32-bit executables, indicating compat32 is in use
The system is likely affected if it runs FreeBSD 11.3, 11.4, or 12.1 on a 64-bit amd64 architecture with the compat32 (32-bit compatibility) subsystem enabled and in use.
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 dataApply vendor patches (r363918/r363919 or later stable patches, or p8/p2/p12 or later release patches) to the affected FreeBSD versions, or upgrade to patched releases.
Fix this in FreeBSD
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,472.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-7460 — 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-2020-7460 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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