CVE-2018-9070
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedFor the Lenovo Smart Assistant Android app versions earlier than 12.1.82, an attacker with physical access to the smart speaker can, by pressing a specific button sequence, enter factory test mode and enable a web service intended for testing the device. As with most test modes, this provides extra privileges, including changing settings and running code. Lenovo Smart Assistant is an Amazon Alexa-enabled smart speaker developed by Lenovo.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceIn Lenovo Smart Assistant Android app versions before 12.1.82, an attacker with physical access can press a specific button sequence to enter factory test mode, which enables a hidden web service intended for device testing. This test mode provides elevated privileges allowing setting changes and arbitrary code execution.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 12.1.82CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Physical
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Lenovo Smart Assistant app is installedOn the Android device, go to Settings > Apps > Apps list and search for 'Lenovo Smart Assistant', or run 'adb shell pm list packages | grep smartassistant'Affected if The app appears in the installed applications list
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Check installed app versionIn Settings > Apps > Lenovo Smart Assistant, note the version number displayed under the app name, or run 'adb shell dumpsys package com.lenovo.smartassistant | grep versionName'Affected if A version number is displayed (indicating the app is installed)
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare the installed version number to 12.1.82 - versions below 12.1.82 are affected (e.g., 12.1.80, 12.0.50, etc.)Affected if Installed version is less than 12.1.82 (for example, 12.1.81, 12.1.50, or any version number below 12.1.82)
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Verify factory test mode accessibilityAttempt to trigger factory test mode by pressing the specific button sequence (this varies by device; check device documentation for the key combination on the specific Lenovo device running Smart Assistant)Affected if Factory test mode is successfully entered, indicating the vulnerability is present and exploitable
User is affected if Lenovo Smart Assistant Android app is installed with a version number lower than 12.1.82 and factory test mode can be triggered via button sequence.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data12.1.82
Update the Lenovo Smart Assistant Android app to version 12.1.82 or later, which should disable the unauthorized factory test mode trigger and disable or properly secure the test web service.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-9070 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-9070 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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