What is CVE-2019-20096?

CVE-2019-20096 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2019-12-30.

How severe is CVE-2019-20096?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.

Is CVE-2019-20096 known to be exploited?

2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

CVE-2019-20096

In the Linux kernel before 5.1, there is a memory leak in __feat_register_sp() in net/dccp/feat.c, which may cause denial of service, aka CID-1d3ff0950e2b.

Published 2019-12-30 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.010 (61.2th percentile), scored 2026-10-01.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 61st percentile — 61.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.010 · newest: 0.010 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Linux Kernel
Canonical Ubuntu Linux — versions 14.04, 16.04, 18.04
Debian Linux — versions 8.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-401 — Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.1 (Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/ (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/156455/Kernel-Live-Patch-Security-Notice-LSN-0063… (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
usn.ubuntu.com/4285-1/ (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
usn.ubuntu.com/4287-1/ (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
usn.ubuntu.com/4286-2/ (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
usn.ubuntu.com/4287-2/ (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/03/msg00001.html (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
usn.ubuntu.com/4286-1/ (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-03/msg00021.html (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory, Broken Link)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-20096?: CVE-2019-20096 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2019-12-30.
How severe is CVE-2019-20096?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2019-20096 known to be exploited?: 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.