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Missing AuthenticationWeakness · CWE-306

CVE-2020-12484

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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 · unedited
When using special mode to connect to enterprise wifi, certain options are not properly configured and attackers can pretend to be enterprise wifi through a carefully constructed wifi with the same name, which can lead to man-in-the-middle attacks.

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 · moderate confidence

In enterprise WiFi authentication using a special connection mode, certain security options for validating authentication servers or certificates are not properly configured. This allows an attacker to deploy a rogue access point with the same SSID (evil twin), tricking clients into connecting to the malicious AP and enabling man-in-the-middle attacks against enterprise network traffic.

MitigationEnsure proper configuration of enterprise WiFi authentication options, including certificate validation and server authentication. Verify that clients validate the authentication server identity before establishing the connection.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS 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
Adjacent
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify enterprise WiFi configurations
    Review WiFi profiles on the client device. On Windows, use 'netsh wlan show profiles' to list configured networks. On Linux, check /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ or wireless config files.
    Affected if Any configured network uses WPA2-Enterprise or WPA3-Enterprise authentication (EAP methods like PEAP, TTLS, TLS).
  2. Verify certificate validation is enabled
    For the enterprise WiFi profile, examine the settings for certificate validation. On Windows, use 'netsh wlan show profile name="PROFILE_NAME" key=clear' and look for validation settings. On Linux, check the NetworkManager connection files for 'phase2' or 'eap' settings and verify a CA certificate is specified.
    Affected if The enterprise WiFi profile has no CA certificate configured, or certificate validation is explicitly disabled or set to 'never validate'.
  3. Check server identity validation settings
    Inspect the enterprise WiFi authentication settings to confirm the server's certificate Subject or SAN is being validated. Look for settings like 'Validate server certificate' or 'Domain suffix match'. On Windows, check the EAP settings. On Linux, verify the 'subject_match' or 'altsubject_match' parameters are configured.
    Affected if Server certificate identity validation is not required or the server name/Domain matching is disabled.
  4. Confirm secure EAP method in use
    Review which EAP authentication method is configured. Prefer EAP-TLS (certificate-based mutual authentication) over weaker methods like PEAP with only MSCHAPv2. Check the configuration files for the eap parameter.
    Affected if A legacy or less secure EAP method without proper certificate-based mutual authentication is configured (e.g., PEAP with no client certificate, EAP-TTLS without proper validation).

A user is affected if their enterprise WiFi client is configured to connect without validating the authentication server's certificate or identity, allowing a rogue AP to impersonate the legitimate network.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Ensure proper configuration of enterprise WiFi authentication options, including certificate validation and server authentication. Verify that clients validate the authentication server identity before establishing the connection.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-12484 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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