# CVE-2020-10283: RVD#3317: MAVLink version handshaking allows for an attacker to bypass authentication


- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Aug 2020
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p772-7p8w-gc5x

## What is CVE-2020-10283?

CVE-2020-10283 is a high-severity vulnerability in PX4 MAVLink, published on 20 Aug 2020. 

### Official description

The Micro Air Vehicle Link (MAVLink) protocol presents authentication mechanisms on its version 2.0 however according to its documentation, in order to maintain backwards compatibility, GCS and autopilot negotiate the version via the AUTOPILOT_VERSION message. Since this negotiation depends on the answer, an attacker may craft packages in a way that hints the autopilot to adopt version 1.0 of MAVLink for the communication. Given the lack of authentication capabilities in such version of MAVLink (refer to CVE-2020-10282), attackers may use this method to bypass authentication capabilities and interact with the autopilot directly.

Weakness: CWE-288 (Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-10283?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Dronecode Micro Air Vehicle Link.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-10283?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-10283 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-10283 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-10283 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in PX4 MAVLink

- [CVE-2020-10282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10282/): RVD#3316: No authentication in MAVLink protocol (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-10281](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10281/): RVD#3315: Cleartext transmission of sensitive information in MAVLink protocol version 1.0 and 2.0 (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-10283 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-10283 is a high-severity vulnerability in PX4 MAVLink, published on 20 Aug 2020. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-10283 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: PX4 MAVLink. 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-2020-10283/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10283/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-10283
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-10283
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-10283

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10283/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.