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Mate 20 Pro FirmwareOperating system · Huawei

CVE-2020-9080

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.0.125 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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
There is an improper privilege management vulnerability in Huawei smart phone product. A local, authenticated attacker could craft a specific input to exploit this vulnerability. Successful exploitation may lead to local privilege escalation. (Vulnerability ID: HWPSIRT-2020-05272) This vulnerability has been assigned a Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) ID: CVE-2020-9080.

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

This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Huawei smartphones caused by improper privilege management. An authenticated attacker with local access to the device can craft specific input to bypass privilege controls and gain elevated (likely root) privileges. The vulnerability is exploitable without user interaction beyond initial device access.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware/security updates from Huawei immediately. Until patches are deployed, minimize device access to trusted users only and avoid sideloading untrusted applications.

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
Mate 20 Pro FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 10.1.0.135\(c01e135r2p8\)
Mate 20 Pro \(ud\) FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 10.1.0.135\(c00e135r3p8\)
Nova 5i FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 10.0.0.125\(c01e123r7p3\)

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify your device model
    Check the device settings or use *#06# to display the model number on screen. Confirm the device is a Huawei Mate 20 Pro or Huawei Nova 5i.
    Affected if The device model is NOT Huawei Mate 20 Pro or Huawei Nova 5i (this CVE only applies to those specific models).
  2. Determine the firmware version
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Version on the device, or dial *#*#2846579#*#* to access engineering menu and view firmware version.
    Affected if Unable to retrieve the firmware version from the device.
  3. Check Mate 20 Pro firmware version
    If the device is a Huawei Mate 20 Pro, compare the displayed firmware version against 10.1.0.135(c01e135r2p8) for standard firmware or 10.1.0.135(c00e135r3p8) for the ud variant.
    Affected if The Mate 20 Pro firmware version exactly matches 10.1.0.135(c01e135r2p8) or 10.1.0.135(c00e135r3p8).
  4. Check Nova 5i firmware version
    If the device is a Huawei Nova 5i, compare the displayed firmware version against 10.0.0.125(c01e123r7p3).
    Affected if The Nova 5i firmware version is lower than 10.0.0.125(c01e123r7p3).

The device is affected if it is a Huawei Mate 20 Pro with firmware exactly 10.1.0.135(c01e135r2p8) or 10.1.0.135(c00e135r3p8), or a Huawei Nova 5i with firmware earlier than 10.0.0.125(c01e123r7p3).

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.0.0.125 or later
Fixed in 10.0.0.125
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied firmware/security updates from Huawei immediately. Until patches are deployed, minimize device access to trusted users only and avoid sideloading untrusted applications.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to the latest EMUI/HarmonyOS firmware version available for Mate 20 Pro or Nova 5i from Huawei's official update channels

  1. 1. Navigate to Settings on the affected Huawei device
  2. 2. Go to System > System Update (or Settings > About Phone > System Update)
  3. 3. Check for available updates by tapping 'Check for updates'
  4. 4. If an update is available, download and install it to receive the security patch that fixes CVE-2020-9080
  5. 5. After installation, verify the firmware version has been updated from the affected version
  6. 6. Ensure the device is charged and connected to Wi-Fi before starting the update process
Caveat Firmware updates carry a small risk of data loss; backup important data before updating

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Mate 20 Pro Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2020-9080 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data