# CVE-2020-16239: Philips SureSigns VS4 Improper Authentication

> Attackers can bypass authentication on Philips SureSigns VS4 devices due to improper identity verification, potentially gaining unauthorized access.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Aug 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Jun 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-r5f2-9rjc-r66m

## What is CVE-2020-16239?

CVE-2020-16239 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Philips SureSigns VS4, published on 21 Aug 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

When an actor claims to have a given identity, 

Philips SureSigns VS4, A.07.107 and prior 
does not prove or insufficiently proves the claim is correct.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-16239?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Philips Suresigns Vs4 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-16239?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-16239 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-16239 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16239 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Philips SureSigns VS4

- [CVE-2020-16241](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16241/): Philips SureSigns VS4 Improper Access Control (medium 6.3)
- [CVE-2020-16237](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16237/): Philips SureSigns VS4 Improper Input Validation (low 2.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-16239 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-16239 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Philips SureSigns VS4, published on 21 Aug 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16239 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Philips SureSigns VS4. 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-2020-16239/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16239/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-16239
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-16239
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-16239

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16239/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.