# CVE-2019-8901: Security feature bypass in iOS and iPadOS

> An attacker in a privileged network position can intercept SSH traffic from the Run script over SSH action due to missing host key verification.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Oct 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4v9x-x766-gmm3

## What is CVE-2019-8901?

CVE-2019-8901 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 27 Oct 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

This issue was addressed by verifying host keys when connecting to a previously-known SSH server. This issue is fixed in iOS 13.1 and iPadOS 13.1. An attacker in a privileged network position may be able to intercept SSH traffic from the “Run script over SSH” action.

Weakness: CWE-347 (Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-8901?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Apple Ipados, Apple Iphone Os.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-8901?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-8901 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-8901 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-8901 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Ipados

- [CVE-2025-43300](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-43300/): Apple iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-24201](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24201/): Apple Multiple Products WebKit Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-24085](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24085/): Apple Multiple Products Use-After-Free (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-31200](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-31200/): Apple Multiple Products Memory Corruption (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-31201](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-31201/): Apple Multiple Products Arbitrary Read and Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-8901 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-8901 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 27 Oct 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-8901 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apple Ipados. 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-2019-8901/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8901/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-8901
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-8901
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-8901

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8901/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.