CVE-2020-9109 in Mate 20
Summary
by MITRE • 10/12/2020
There is an information disclosure vulnerability in several smartphones. The device does not sufficiently validate the identity of smart wearable device in certain specific scenario, the attacker need to gain certain information in the victim's smartphone to launch the attack, and successful exploit could cause information disclosure.Affected product versions include:HUAWEI Mate 20 versions earlier than 10.1.0.160(C00E160R3P8),versions earlier than 10.1.0.160(C01E160R2P8);HUAWEI Mate 20 X versions earlier than 10.1.0.160(C00E160R2P8),versions earlier than 10.1.0.160(C01E160R2P8);HUAWEI P30 Pro versions earlier than 10.1.0.160(C00E160R2P8);Laya-AL00EP versions earlier than 10.1.0.160(C786E160R3P8);Tony-AL00B versions earlier than 10.1.0.160(C00E160R2P11);Tony-TL00B versions earlier than 10.1.0.160(C01E160R2P11).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/18/2020
This information disclosure vulnerability exists within Huawei's mobile device ecosystem, specifically affecting multiple smartphone models including the Mate 20 series, Mate 20 X, P30 Pro, and various Honor devices. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of smart wearable device identities during specific operational scenarios, creating a pathway for unauthorized information access. According to the vulnerability description, attackers must first acquire certain information from the victim's smartphone before they can successfully exploit this weakness, indicating a prerequisite for attack execution that aligns with privilege escalation or reconnaissance-based attack patterns.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the Bluetooth or wireless communication protocols used by these devices to establish connections with smart wearables. The insufficient identity validation mechanism allows malicious actors to potentially impersonate legitimate wearable devices or intercept communication streams between the smartphone and authorized wearables. This represents a classic case of weak authentication or authorization controls that fall under CWE-287, which addresses authentication failures in software systems. The vulnerability's impact is particularly concerning given the sensitive nature of data typically exchanged between smartphones and wearable devices, which may include health monitoring information, location data, personal communications, and biometric measurements.
From an operational perspective, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to significant privacy breaches and data compromise for users of affected Huawei devices. The attack scenario requires initial reconnaissance to gather information from the target device, making it a targeted rather than opportunistic vulnerability. This characteristic places the vulnerability in the ATT&CK framework category of Initial Access through reconnaissance activities, specifically targeting the T1590 - Gather Victim Network Information and T1046 - Network Service Scanning domains. The affected device versions span multiple software releases, indicating this was likely a persistent issue across several firmware iterations before being addressed in the mentioned patch versions.
The security implications extend beyond simple information disclosure, as wearable devices often serve as conduits for sensitive personal data collection and transmission. Users may unknowingly expose their health information, location tracking data, and communication records to unauthorized parties. The vulnerability's requirement for pre-existing information gathering on the victim device suggests a multi-stage attack approach that aligns with advanced persistent threat (APT) methodologies. Organizations and individuals using affected Huawei devices should implement immediate mitigation strategies including firmware updates, network monitoring, and potential device isolation until patches are deployed. The vulnerability underscores the importance of robust device authentication mechanisms in IoT ecosystems and highlights the critical need for comprehensive security testing of wireless communication protocols in mobile platforms.