What is CVE-2020-24718?

CVE-2020-24718 is a high-severity vulnerability in FreeBSD, classified under Missing Authorization. CVSS score: 8.2/10. Published 2020-09-25.

How severe is CVE-2020-24718?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.2 out of 10.

Auth bypass in FreeBSD

CVE-2020-24718

bhyve, as used in FreeBSD through 12.1 and illumos (e.g., OmniOS CE through r151034 and OpenIndiana through Hipster 2020.04), does not properly restrict VMCS and VMCB read/write operations, as demonstrated by a root user in a container on an Intel system, who can gain privileges by modifying VMCS_HOST_RIP.

Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control

Published 2020-09-25 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.2 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.006 (48.3th percentile), scored 2026-10-24.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 48th percentile — 48.3% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.006 · newest: 0.006 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-862 — Missing Authorization

References

github.com/illumos/illumos-gate/blob/84971882a96ac0fecd538b02208054a872ff8af3/u… (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
security.FreeBSD.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-20:28.bhyve_vmcs.asc (Vendor Advisory)
security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20201016-0002/ (Third Party Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-24718?: CVE-2020-24718 is a high-severity vulnerability in FreeBSD, classified under Missing Authorization. CVSS score: 8.2/10. Published 2020-09-25.
How severe is CVE-2020-24718?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.2 out of 10.