CVE-2020-12717: The COVIDSafe (Australia) app 1.0 and 1.1 for iOS allows a remote attacker to crash the app, and consequently

This month

MEDIUM 6.5MITIGATEMITIGATEDOWNGRADE

CVE-2020-12717 is a medium-severity flaw (CVSS 6.5) affecting abtracetogether, protego safe, covidsafe. Below: why it ranks where it does, which versions are affected, what to do, and the exact commands.

The COVIDSafe (Australia) app 1.0 and 1.1 for iOS allows a remote attacker to crash the app, and consequently interfere with COVID-19 contact tracing, via a Bluetooth advertisement containing manufacturer data that is too short. This occurs because of an erroneous OpenTrace manuData.subdata call. The ABTraceTogether (Alberta), ProteGO (Poland), and TraceTogether (Singapore) apps were also affected.

Why this priority

No elevated risk signals yet

No fix is published yet: follow the downgrade or mitigation steps.

Risk facts

CVSS score	6.5 (Medium)
Attack vector	Adjacent network
Attack complexity	Low
Privileges needed	None
User interaction	None
EPSS exploit chance	1.4% (top 28%)
CISA exploited list	No
Published	2020-05-14
Last modified	2026-06-17

Publisher (CNA): MITRE · Vendor: alberta · gov · health · tracetogether

Last updated 2026-06-17 · Sources: CVE Program, NVD, CISA KEV, EPSS and vendor advisories · How we score

Am I affected?

Timeline

2020-05-14 05:15 UTCPublished CVE record published
2026-06-17 02:52 UTCUpdated Record last modified

alberta abtracetogether MITIGATE

Affected: all versions

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: no unaffected older release

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy abtracetogether || rpm -q abtracetogether || abtracetogether --version

No fixed or unaffected release known

Apply the vendor mitigation from the advisory, disable the affected feature, or restrict network access.

gov protego safe MITIGATE

Affected: all versions

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: no unaffected older release

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy protego-safe || rpm -q protego-safe || protego-safe --version

No fixed or unaffected release known

Apply the vendor mitigation from the advisory, disable the affected feature, or restrict network access.

health covidsafe DOWNGRADE

Affected: 1.0 · 1.1

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: a release before 1.0

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy covidsafe || rpm -q covidsafe || covidsafe --version

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE to a release before 1.0 (Debian / Ubuntu)

apt-cache madison covidsafe sudo apt install covidsafe=<VERSION_BEFORE_1.0> sudo apt-mark hold covidsafe

2. No fixed release: DOWNGRADE (RHEL / Amazon Linux / Fedora)

dnf --showduplicates list covidsafe sudo dnf downgrade covidsafe-<VERSION_BEFORE_1.0> sudo dnf versionlock add covidsafe

Downgrade risk

Downgrading can break dependent software and may reopen older bugs. Read the distro advisory first and test on a non-production host.

After downgrade

Restart the service, and keep the package held until a fixed release ships.

tracetogether tracetogether MITIGATE

Affected: all versions

Fixed in: no fixed release known

Safe to downgrade to: no unaffected older release

1. Check installed version

apt-cache policy tracetogether || rpm -q tracetogether || tracetogether --version

No fixed or unaffected release known

Apply the vendor mitigation from the advisory, disable the affected feature, or restrict network access.

Verify at the official source NVD · CVE Program · Report a problem with this page
Scores and fixes here are computed automatically from those and other public sources. Confirm with the vendor advisory before changing production systems.

Quick answers

How do I fix CVE-2020-12717?

abtracetogether: mitigate or apply the listed mitigation; protego safe: mitigate or apply the listed mitigation; covidsafe: downgrade or apply the listed mitigation. Exact commands for each OS are on this page.

Is CVE-2020-12717 being exploited?

CVE-2020-12717 is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list at the time of the last update. Check again, as this can change.

What does CVE-2020-12717 affect?

CVE-2020-12717 affects abtracetogether, protego safe, covidsafe. Severity is medium (CVSS 6.5). The COVIDSafe (Australia) app 1.0 and 1.1 for iOS allows a remote attacker to crash the app, and consequently interfere with COVID-19 contact tracing, via a Bluetooth advertisement containing manufacturer data that is too short. This occurs

How urgent is CVE-2020-12717?

Priority 41/100. No elevated risk signals yet.

Software pages

iOS vulnerabilities · Bluetooth vulnerabilities

Related CVEs

CVE-2020-12856 CRITICAL 9.8 MITIGATE MITIGATE OpenTrace, as used in COVIDSafe through v1.0.17, TraceTogether, ABTraceTogether, and other applications on iOS

References

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