Medium Memory corruption exploit reference

CVE-2020-35496 — NULL Pointer Dereference in Broadcom Brocade Fabric Operating System Firmware

There's a flaw in bfd_pef_scan_start_address() of bfd/pef.c in binutils which could allow an attacker who is able to submit a crafted file to be processed by objdump to cause a NULL pointer dereference. The greatest threat of this flaw is to application availability. This flaw affects binutils versions prior to 2.34.

Published Jan 4, 2021 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: redhat

Low

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.

How the score was calculated

EPSS 1.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+10
Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation

Not confirmed

Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.

EPSS FIRST

1.15%

ahead of 66% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026

Affects

Broadcom

Brocade Fabric Operating System Firmware and 7 more

CVSS base

5.5

Medium · 1 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation

None

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

can an attacker script the kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Partial

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

Documented patch — bugzilla.redhat.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Broadcom Brocade Fabric Operating System Firmware, Fedoraproject Fedora, Gnu Binutils…).
Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status	Source
Broadcom	Brocade Fabric Operating System Firmware	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database
Fedoraproject	Fedora	version 32	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database
Gnu	Binutils	< 2.34	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database
Netapp	Cloud Backup	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database
Netapp	Hci Compute Node Firmware	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database
Netapp	Ontap Select Deploy Administration Utility	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database
Netapp	Solidfire & Hci Management Node	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database
Netapp	Solidfire, Enterprise Sds & Hci Storage Node	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector

Local

Attack complexity

Low

Privileges required

None

User interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Scored by
5.5	CVSS 3.1	Medium	1.8	3.6	nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
4.3	CVSS 2.0	Medium	8.6	2.9	nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-476 · NULL Pointer Dereference

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 1.15%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.

endpoint telemetry (EDR)crash dumps

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

2026
SSVC assessment updated
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Record published
Oct 13, 2026
Fix documented
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS changed · 5.5
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Source status changed · → Modified
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Record created in this database
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
2021
CVE published
Jan 4, 2021 · redhat

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

4 on the record

bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi
Exploit, Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4KOK
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_FEDORA, NIST National Vulnerability Database
security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210212-0007/
Third Party Advisory, x_refsource_CONFIRM, NIST National Vulnerability Database
security.gentoo.org/glsa/202107-24
Third Party Advisory, vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO, NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Broadcom
every CVE for this vendor

Memory corruption
same class

CWE-476
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

Low CVE-2026-91782 Improper Resource Shutdown or Release in Gnu Binutils Sep 15, 2026
Low CVE-2026-91781 Improper Resource Shutdown or Release in Gnu Binutils Sep 15, 2026
Low CVE-2026-91780 Improper Resource Shutdown or Release in Gnu Binutils Sep 15, 2026
Low CVE-2026-91779 Improper Resource Shutdown or Release in Gnu Binutils Sep 15, 2026
Medium CVE-2026-90831 Buffer Errors (Improper Restriction of Operations within Memory Bounds) in Gnu Binutils Sep 14, 2026
Medium CVE-2026-90830 Improper Resource Shutdown or Release in Gnu Binutils Sep 14, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2020-35496 is "NULL Pointer Dereference in Broadcom Brocade Fabric Operating System Firmware", rated Medium. It affects Brocade Fabric Operating System Firmware (Broadcom); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 1.15% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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