CVE-2020-12638
An encryption-bypass issue was discovered on Espressif ESP-IDF devices through 4.2,...
An encryption-bypass issue was discovered on Espressif ESP-IDF devices through 4.2, ESP8266_NONOS_SDK devices through 3.0.3, and ESP8266_RTOS_SDK devices through 3.3. Broadcasting forged beacon frames forces a device to change its authentication mode to OPEN, effectively disabling its 802.11 encryption.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
An encryption-bypass issue was discovered on Espressif ESP-IDF devices through 4.2, ESP8266_NONOS_SDK devices through 3.0.3, and ESP8266_RTOS_SDK devices through 3.3. Broadcasting forged beacon frames forces a device to change its authentication mode to OPEN, effectively disabling its 802.11 encryption.
- Record
CVE-2020-12638- CVSS 3.1
- 6.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 4.3 Medium
AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-287, CWE-319
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An encryption-bypass issue was discovered on Espressif ESP-IDF devices through 4.2, ESP8266_NONOS_SDK devices through 3.0.3, and ESP8266_RTOS_SDK devices through 3.3. Broadcasting forged beacon frames forces a device to change its authentication mode to OPEN, effectively disabling its 802.11 encryption.
- Record
CVE-2020-12638- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-4939 No score
An encryption-bypass issue was discovered on Espressif ESP-IDF devices through 4.2, ESP8266_NONOS_SDK devices through 3.0.3, and ESP8266_RTOS_SDK devices through 3.3. Broadcasting forged beacon frames forces a device to change its authentication mode to OPEN, effectively disabling its 802.11 encryption.
- Record
EUVD-2020-4939- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-jf2p-5456-5593 No score
An encryption-bypass issue was discovered on Espressif ESP-IDF devices through 4.2,...
An encryption-bypass issue was discovered on Espressif ESP-IDF devices through 4.2, ESP8266_NONOS_SDK devices through 3.0.3, and ESP8266_RTOS_SDK devices through 3.3. Broadcasting forged beacon frames forces a device to change its authentication mode to OPEN, effectively disabling its 802.11 encryption.
- Record
GHSA-jf2p-5456-5593- Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
An encryption-bypass issue was discovered on Espressif ESP-IDF devices through 4.2, ESP8266_NONOS_SDK devices through 3.0.3, and ESP8266_RTOS_SDK devices through 3.3. Broadcasting forged beacon frames forces a device to change its authentication mode to OPEN, effectively disabling its 802.11 encryption.
- Record
CVE-2020-12638- CVSS 3.1
- 6.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-12638 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.8) in Espressif Esp-idf, published July 23, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.45%, the 39th percentile. No source names a fixed version.