# CVE-2020-15894: Missing authorization in n/a

> An exposed administration function in D-Link DIR-816L routers allows attackers to retrieve sensitive admin credentials without authentication.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Jul 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4xhc-v448-j5jx

## What is CVE-2020-15894?

CVE-2020-15894 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Jul 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered on D-Link DIR-816L devices 2.x before 1.10b04Beta02. There exists an exposed administration function in getcfg.php, which can be used to call various services. It can be utilized by an attacker to retrieve various sensitive information, such as admin login credentials, by setting the value of _POST_SERVICES in the query string to DEVICE.ACCOUNT.

Weakness: CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-15894?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Dlink Dir-816l Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-15894?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-15894 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-15894 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15894 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2022-28956](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28956/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-15893](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15893/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-13188](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-13188/): D-Link DIR-816L authentication.cgi authenticationcgi_main stack-based overflow (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2025-13189](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-13189/): D-Link DIR-816L gena.cgi genacgi_main stack-based overflow (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2025-13190](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-13190/): D-Link DIR-816L __ajax_exporer.sgi scandir_main stack-based overflow (high 8.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-15894 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-15894 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in n/a, published on 22 Jul 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15894 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2020-15894/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15894/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-15894
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-15894
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-15894

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15894/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.