Skip to content
OpenAdvisories
Unscored CVE-2020-12062 EUVD-2020-4378GHSA-843q-w84q-c7qg

The scp client in OpenSSH 8.2 incorrectly sends duplicate responses to the server upon a utimes system call failure, which allows a malicio…

Published Jun 1, 2020 · Updated Oct 14, 2026 · Assigned by mitre

Description

The scp client in OpenSSH 8.2 incorrectly sends duplicate responses to the server upon a utimes system call failure, which allows a malicious unprivileged user on the remote server to overwrite arbitrary files in the client's download directory by creating a crafted subdirectory anywhere on the remote server. The victim must use the command scp -rp to download a file hierarchy containing, anywhere inside, this crafted subdirectory. NOTE: the vendor points out that "this attack can achieve no more than a hostile peer is already able to achieve within the scp protocol" and "utimes does not fail under normal circumstances.

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 openssh 1:8.3p1-1 —
Debian 13 openssh 1:8.3p1-1 —
Debian 12 openssh 1:8.3p1-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS openssh-ssh1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS openssh-ssh1 No fix yet —
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS openssh No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS openssh No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS openssh No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS openssh No fix yet —

Advisories 5

References