CVE-2020-12912

Publication date 12 November 2020

Last updated 25 August 2025

Ubuntu priority

Low

Why this priority?

Cvss 3 Severity Score

5.5 · Medium

Score breakdown

Description

A potential vulnerability in the AMD extension to Linux "hwmon" service may allow an attacker to use the Linux-based Running Average Power Limit (RAPL) interface to show various side channel attacks. In line with industry partners, AMD has updated the RAPL interface to require privileged access.

From the Ubuntu Security Team

It was discovered that the AMD Running Average Power Limit (RAPL) driver in the Linux kernel did not properly restrict access to power data. A local attacker could possibly use this to expose sensitive information.

Status

Package Ubuntu Release Status
linux-hwe 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored replaced by linux-hwe-5.4
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-azure-edge 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-azure-5.3
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gke-5.0 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-oracle-5.4 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-raspi-5.4 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux 20.10 groovy
Fixed 5.8.0-34.37
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Ignored was needs-triage ESM criteria
linux-aws 20.10 groovy
Fixed 5.8.0-1017.18
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Ignored was needs-triage ESM criteria
linux-azure 20.10 groovy
Fixed 5.8.0-1016.17
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-azure-5.3
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Ignored was needs-triage ESM criteria
linux-kvm 20.10 groovy
Fixed 5.8.0-1014.15
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-riscv 20.10 groovy
Not affected
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic Not in release
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gke-5.4 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gcp 20.10 groovy
Fixed 5.8.0-1015.15
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-gcp-5.3
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-aws-5.0 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-aws-5.3
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-aws-5.3 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-aws-5.4
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-aws-5.4 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-aws-hwe 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Not in release
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-azure-4.15 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-azure-5.3 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-azure-5.4
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-azure-5.4 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gcp-4.15 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gcp-5.3 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-gcp-5.4
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gcp-5.4 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-oracle 20.10 groovy
Fixed 5.8.0-1014.14
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gcp-edge 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-gcp-5.3
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gke-4.15 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gke-5.3 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-gkeop-5.4 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-hwe-5.4 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-hwe-5.8 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal
Fixed 5.8.0-34.37~20.04.2
18.04 LTS bionic Not in release
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-hwe-edge 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-hwe-5.4
16.04 LTS xenial Ignored superseded by linux-hwe
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-lts-trusty 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Not in release
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-lts-xenial 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Not in release
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Ignored was needs-triage ESM criteria
linux-oem 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Ignored end of standard support
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-oem-5.6 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic Not in release
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-oem-osp1 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored end of standard support, was needs-triage
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-oracle-5.0 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-oracle-5.3
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-oracle-5.3 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored superseded by linux-oracle-5.4
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-raspi 20.10 groovy
Not affected
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic Not in release
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-raspi2 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-raspi2-5.3 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
linux-snapdragon 20.10 groovy Not in release
20.04 LTS focal Not in release
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release

Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. How can I get the fixes?

Package Patch details
linux

Severity score breakdown

Parameter Value
Base score 5.5 · Medium
Attack vector Local
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required Low
User interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality High
Integrity impact None
Availability impact None
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

References

Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

    • USN-4678-1
    • Linux kernel vulnerabilities
    • 6 January 2021

Other references

Access our resources on patching vulnerabilities