# CVE-2018-7988: Auth bypass in Huawei nova 2 Plus, Huawei Mate9 Pro

> Attackers can bypass Factory Reset Protection on Huawei smartphones via physical connection and specific operations, allowing unauthorized device access.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Nov 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xmm3-954r-xwww

## What is CVE-2018-7988?

CVE-2018-7988 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Huawei nova 2 Plus, Huawei Mate9 Pro, published on 27 Nov 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

There is a Factory Reset Protection (FRP) bypass vulnerability on several smartphones. The system does not sufficiently verify the permission, an attacker uses a data cable to connect the smartphone to another smartphone and then perform a series of specific operations. Successful exploit could allow the attacker bypass the FRP protection.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-7988?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Huawei Mate 9 Pro Firmware, Huawei Nova 2 Plus Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-7988?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-7988 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-7988 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-7988 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Huawei nova 2 Plus, Huawei Mate9 Pro

- [CVE-2017-17225](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17225/): Memory corruption in Mate 9 Pro (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-17320](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17320/): Use after free in Mate 9 Pro (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2017-17324](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17324/): Integer overflow in Mate 9 Pro (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2017-17279](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17279/): Auth bypass in Mate 9 Pro (medium 5.5)
- [CVE-2017-15347](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15347/): Use after free in Mate 9 Pro (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-7988 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-7988 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Huawei nova 2 Plus, Huawei Mate9 Pro, published on 27 Nov 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-7988 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Huawei nova 2 Plus, Huawei Mate9 Pro. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7988/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7988/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-7988
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-7988
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-7988

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7988/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.