YoctoApplication · Linuxfoundation

CVE-2025-20705

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
In monitor_hang, there is a possible memory corruption due to use after free. This could lead to local escalation of privilege if a malicious actor has already obtained the System privilege. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS09989078; Issue ID: MSV-3964.

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 · moderate confidence

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in the monitor_hang component, allowing a local attacker who already has System privileges to escalate to higher privileges. The vulnerability involves memory corruption where a freed memory region is accessed after being deallocated, leading to potential arbitrary code execution. No user interaction is required for exploitation.

MitigationApply the vendor patch ALPS09989078 to address the use-after-free in monitor_hang. Since exploitation requires System-level access, ensure strict access controls and monitoring for privilege escalation attempts.

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
YoctoApplication
Affected:= 2.6
AndroidOperating system
Affected:= 13.0= 14.0= 15.0= 16.0
OpenwrtOperating system
Affected:= 19.07.0= 21.02.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify your product and version
    Run 'cat /etc/os-release' or check system info to determine if you are running Yocto 2.6, Android 13.0-16.0, or Openwrt 19.07.0/21.02.0
    Affected if Your product version matches exactly one of the listed affected versions (Yocto 2.6, Android 13.0/14.0/15.0/16.0, or Openwrt 19.07.0/21.02.0)
  2. Determine if monitor_hang component is present
    Search for the monitor_hang binary or module on the system using 'find / -name *monitor_hang* 2>/dev/null' or check kernel modules if applicable
    Affected if The monitor_hang component exists on the system and is loaded or accessible
  3. Check current user privilege level
    Run 'id' or 'whoami' to determine your current privilege level
    Affected if You have System-level or root privileges, as exploitation requires an attacker with System access to escalate further
  4. Verify monitor_hang process is running
    Use 'ps aux | grep monitor_hang' or check running processes for the monitor_hang component
    Affected if The monitor_hang process is actively running on the system

You are affected if you are running one of the listed product versions AND the monitor_hang component is present and running on your system with System-level access available.

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

Apply the vendor patch ALPS09989078 to address the use-after-free in monitor_hang. Since exploitation requires System-level access, ensure strict access controls and monitoring for privilege escalation attempts.

Fix this in Yocto Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-20705 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-20705 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