# CVE-2020-9073: Auth bypass in P20

> Attackers with physical access can bypass student mode restrictions on Huawei P20 devices due to insufficient identity validation.

- **Severity:** Low 2.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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:** 15 May 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-48xv-3rm6-fh3c

## What is CVE-2020-9073?

CVE-2020-9073 is a low-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in P20, published on 15 May 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Huawei P20 smartphones with versions earlier than 10.0.0.156(C00E156R1P4) have an improper authentication vulnerability. The vulnerability is due to that when an user wants to do certain operation, the software insufficiently validate the user's identity. Attackers need to physically access the smartphone to exploit this vulnerability. Successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass the limit of student mode function.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-9073?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Huawei P20 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-9073?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-9073 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-9073 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-9073 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in P20

- [CVE-2018-7987](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7987/): Memory corruption in Huawei P20 (medium 5.9)
- [CVE-2019-5211](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5211/): Other in P20 (medium 5.7)
- [CVE-2019-5212](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5212/): Missing authorization in P20 (medium 5.5)
- [CVE-2019-5283](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5283/): Security feature bypass in P20 (medium 4.6)
- [CVE-2019-5306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5306/): Security feature bypass in P20 (medium 4.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-9073 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-9073 is a low-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in P20, published on 15 May 2020. 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-2020-9073 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: P20. 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-2020-9073/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9073/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-9073
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-9073
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-9073

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-9073/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.