CVE-2020-8320

Privilege escalation via embedded BIOS shell

Published Jun 9, 2020 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Improper privilege management in Lenovo ThinkPad BIOS allows physically proximate attackers to escalate privileges through an embedded shell. Certain BIOS images retain an internal shell intended for development, exposing privileged firmware functionality instead of removing it from production builds. Physical access to an affected ThinkPad is required, and successful use grants higher privileges on that device; Lenovo has not published shell invocation details.

CVSS severity6.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.28%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper privilege management in Lenovo ThinkPad BIOS allows physically proximate attackers to escalate privileges through an embedded shell. Certain BIOS images retain an internal shell intended for development, exposing privileged firmware functionality instead of removing it from production builds. Physical access to an affected ThinkPad is required, and successful use grants higher privileges on that device; Lenovo has not published shell invocation details.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-8320
Published
Jun 9, 2020
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-269, CWE-489, T1068
Attack vector
physical
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 9, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorphysical
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

4.6NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
6.8NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
6.4Lenovo Group Ltd.CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorphysical
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
CWE-489Active Debug Code
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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