CVE-2016-20012
OpenSSH through 8.7 allows remote attackers, who have a suspicion that a certain combination of username and public key is known to an SSH…
- 5.3MediumCVSS base score
- 5.3%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 7.3% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
OpenSSH through 8.7 allows remote attackers, who have a suspicion that a certain combination of username and public key is known to an SSH server, to test whether this suspicion is correct. This occurs because a challenge is sent only when that combination could be valid for a login session. NOTE: the vendor does not recognize user enumeration as a vulnerability for this product
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit.
Show the exploits1
References tagged exploit1 reference
- https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/blob/d0fffc88c8fe90c1815c6f4097bc8cbcabc0f3dd/auth2-pubkey.c#L261-L265 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferredexploit
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
Published
- 5 years later
· 5 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | Medium5.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | Medium5.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 5.3% · top 7.3% of all CVEs (9 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.3.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
8
- https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/pull/270 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/blob/d0fffc88c8fe90c1815c6f4097bc8cbcabc0f3dd/auth2-pubkey.c#L261-L265 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferredexploit
- https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/tech/SSHKeysAreInfoLeak (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://rushter.com/blog/public-ssh-keys/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20211014-0005/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/pull/270#issuecomment-920577097 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/08/24/1 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/pull/270#issuecomment-943909185 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2016-3100 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2016-20012)Record last updated .