CVE-2020-14871

CRITICALNVD 10.010.0
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

“—” beside the score: it is equal to NVD's CVSS score.

Score elevated to 10.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 10.0 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, EPSS, GitHub Security Advisory, NVD CVSS v3
Exploited in the wild

Also known asEUVD-2020-7007 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD

10.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictMitigate nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV) — the reason this is sooner than the SSVC decision on this page at low or medium mission impact
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 80%CVSS: 10.0Exploit: Metasploit · other public PoCExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is referenced (a reference tagged "Patch", often a source commit), but no release containing it is confirmed — find the release that contains it; until it is applied, mitigate (WAF / firewall / segmentation).

Vulnerability in the Oracle Solaris product of Oracle Systems (component: Pluggable authentication module). Supported versions that are affected are 10 and 11. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Oracle Solaris. While the vulnerability is in Oracle Solaris, attacks may significantly impact additional products. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover of Oracle Solaris. Note: This CVE is not exploitable for Solaris 11.1 and later releases, and ZFSSA 8.7 and later releases, thus the CVSS Base Score is 0.0. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 10.0 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).

CVSS v3
10.0
EG Score
10.0CRITICALhigh confidence
EG Risk
85
EG Risk 85/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.

How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)
Severity100% × 45%
Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 10.0 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.
Exploitation100% × 40%
Fixed at 100% for a CISA KEV listing: EchelonGraph's rule.
Automatability0% × 15%
CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.
Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.
Action: A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it; until one is applied, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation on your normal schedule at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact.
EPSS PROB
80%
EPSS %ILE
99th
KEV
⚠ Exploited

What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)

The EG score (10.0): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 10.0 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.

EG Severity
10.0 CRITICALCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
EG Likelihood
80% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-12). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
Confirmed exploitation
CISA KEV and EG-KEV Tier 1 (exploited in the wild)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
EG Priority
SSVC Attend at medium mission impactTrack at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.CISA BOD 26-04: 3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.No released fix is confirmed on this page, but CISA's timeline does not wait for a fix's release: this CVE is in CISA's KEV catalog, and CISA's required action for it, quoted below, applies whether or not a fix is released.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.

SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.

A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it; until one is applied, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation on your normal schedule at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact.

Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table

BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.

No released fix is confirmed on this page, but CISA's timeline does not wait for a fix's release: this CVE is in CISA's KEV catalog, and CISA's required action for it, quoted below, applies whether or not a fix is released.

The score's inputs: In CISA KEV yes (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it

CISA required action“Apply updates per vendor instructions.”

Quoted verbatim from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. CISA directs it at US federal civilian executive branch agencies under Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04, which replaced BOD 22-01 on 10 June 2026; it is not EchelonGraph's advice. CISA's notes: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-14871

Published

October 21, 2020

Last Modified

October 27, 2025

Advisory Details (6)

Auto-updated Nov 8, 2026
⚠️ Actively exploited (CISA KEV, CISA Vulnrichment). Fix referenced — no release confirmed yet.

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 9× in last 7d / 43× in last 30d)

Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed its CVE.org record (CNA or CISA ADP). An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). "EchelonGraph re-scored" is our own recompute of this CVE's score, not an update from a source, and is not counted in the refreshes above. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 1,086 rows on record for this CVE.

A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. None are among the latest 100 rows. The 986 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.

  1. 2026-11-13 05:26 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  2. 2026-11-13 05:26 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  3. 2026-11-12 03:04 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  4. 2026-11-12 03:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  5. 2026-11-11 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  6. 2026-11-11 00:41 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  7. 2026-11-11 00:41 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  8. 2026-11-09 22:19 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  9. 2026-11-09 22:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  10. 2026-11-08 19:57 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  11. 2026-11-08 19:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  12. 2026-11-08 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  13. 2026-11-07 17:35 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  14. 2026-11-07 17:35 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  15. 2026-11-06 15:13 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  16. 2026-11-06 15:13 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  17. 2026-11-05 12:51 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  18. 2026-11-05 12:51 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  19. 2026-11-04 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  20. 2026-11-04 10:28 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  21. 2026-11-04 10:28 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  22. 2026-11-03 16:36 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  23. 2026-11-03 08:05 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  24. 2026-11-03 08:05 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  25. 2026-11-02 05:41 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-11-02 05:41 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  2. 2026-11-01 03:19 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  3. 2026-11-01 03:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  4. 2026-10-31 00:57 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  5. 2026-10-31 00:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  6. 2026-10-30 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  7. 2026-10-29 22:35 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  8. 2026-10-29 22:35 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  9. 2026-10-29 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  10. 2026-10-28 20:13 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  11. 2026-10-28 20:13 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  12. 2026-10-27 17:51 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  13. 2026-10-27 17:51 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  14. 2026-10-27 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  15. 2026-10-26 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  16. 2026-10-26 15:29 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  17. 2026-10-25 18:50 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  18. 2026-10-25 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  19. 2026-10-25 13:07 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  20. 2026-10-25 13:07 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  21. 2026-10-24 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  22. 2026-10-24 10:44 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  23. 2026-10-24 10:44 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  24. 2026-10-23 08:21 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  25. 2026-10-23 08:20 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  26. 2026-10-22 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  27. 2026-10-22 05:57 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  28. 2026-10-22 05:56 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  29. 2026-10-21 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  30. 2026-10-21 03:34 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  31. 2026-10-21 03:34 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  32. 2026-10-20 01:11 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  33. 2026-10-20 01:11 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  34. 2026-10-19 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  35. 2026-10-18 22:49 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  36. 2026-10-18 22:49 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  37. 2026-10-18 09:33 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  38. 2026-10-17 20:26 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  39. 2026-10-17 20:26 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  40. 2026-10-16 18:03 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  41. 2026-10-16 18:03 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  42. 2026-10-15 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  43. 2026-10-15 15:41 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  44. 2026-10-15 15:41 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  45. 2026-10-14 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  46. 2026-10-14 13:17 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  47. 2026-10-14 13:16 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  48. 2026-10-13 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  49. 2026-10-13 10:54 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  50. 2026-10-12 19:45 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  51. 2026-10-12 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  52. 2026-10-12 08:31 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  53. 2026-10-12 04:40 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  54. 2026-10-12 00:47 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  55. 2026-10-11 20:55 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  56. 2026-10-11 20:55 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  57. 2026-10-11 17:04 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  58. 2026-10-11 17:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  59. 2026-10-11 13:12 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  60. 2026-10-11 13:11 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  61. 2026-10-11 09:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  62. 2026-10-11 05:26 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  63. 2026-10-11 01:35 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  64. 2026-10-10 21:41 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  65. 2026-10-10 17:47 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  66. 2026-10-10 13:55 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  67. 2026-10-10 10:04 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  68. 2026-10-10 06:13 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  69. 2026-10-10 02:21 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  70. 2026-10-09 22:31 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  71. 2026-10-09 22:30 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  72. 2026-10-09 20:03 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  73. 2026-10-09 18:39 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  74. 2026-10-09 14:48 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0
  75. 2026-10-09 10:55 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-7pcp-8fjh-246q · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 10.0

Publicly available exploits

(5 references)

Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (1 Metasploit module, 3 Exploit-DB entries, 1 GitHub PoC). No release with the fix is confirmed, so defenders should restrict or isolate affected systems accordingly until one is applied.

  • Metasploitexploit/solaris/ssh/pam_username_bof✓ verified
    Published Dec 16, 2020

    Oracle Solaris SunSSH PAM parse_user_name() Buffer Overflow

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCrobidev/CVE-2020-14871-Exploit
    Published Dec 25, 2021

    This is a basic ROP based exploit for CVE 2020-14871. CVE 2020-14871 is a vulnerability in Sun Solaris systems libpam library, and exploitable over ssh

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-50039
    Published Jun 21, 2021

    Solaris SunSSH 11.0 x86 - libpam Remote Root (3)

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-49896
    Published May 21, 2021

    Solaris SunSSH 11.0 x86 - libpam Remote Root (2)

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-49261
    Published Dec 15, 2020

    Solaris SunSSH 11.0 x86 - libpam Remote Root

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2020-14871?
CVE-2020-14871 is a critical-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on October 21, 2020. Vulnerability in the Oracle Solaris product of Oracle Systems (component: Pluggable authentication module). Supported versions that are affected are 10 and 11. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Oracle Solaris.…
When was the CVE record for CVE-2020-14871 published?
The CVE record for CVE-2020-14871 was published on October 21, 2020. That is the record's publication date; the vulnerability itself may have been made public earlier. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of October 27, 2025; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2020-14871 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-14871 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on November 3, 2021, affecting Oracle Solaris and Zettabyte File System (ZFS). KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate attention. A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it; until one is applied, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-14871?
CVE-2020-14871 has a CVSS v3 base score of 10.0 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2020-14871?
CVE-2020-14871 affects Oracle Solaris and Zettabyte File System (ZFS).
How do I remediate CVE-2020-14871?
A fix for CVE-2020-14871 is referenced (a reference tagged "Patch", often a source commit), but EchelonGraph has no release containing it on record. Check that reference and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains the fix and update to it; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation.

Dependency Blast Radius

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