CVE-2020-8989Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Vote-choice disclosure via variable ciphertext lengths

Published Feb 13, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Information disclosure in Voatz for Android 2020-01-01 allows remote attackers to infer a voter's choice from encrypted packet lengths. The vote submission's choices list includes only selected options and all server-supplied candidate metadata, leaving ciphertext length proportional to plaintext length. Exploitation requires visibility into voter-to-server traffic and knowledge of ballot options; man-in-the-middle attackers can also drop the identified submission packet to interrupt voting.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability1.03%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Information disclosure in Voatz for Android 2020-01-01 allows remote attackers to infer a voter's choice from encrypted packet lengths. The vote submission's choices list includes only selected options and all server-supplied candidate metadata, leaving ciphertext length proportional to plaintext length. Exploitation requires visibility into voter-to-server traffic and knowledge of ballot options; man-in-the-middle attackers can also drop the identified submission packet to interrupt voting.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-8989
Published
Feb 13, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-203, T1040
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 13, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 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 vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.3NISTCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
5.0NISTAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

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.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-203Observable Discrepancy
T1040Network Sniffing

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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