The issue allows for downgrade attacks due to a lenient 'updater-script' in OTAs that does not check the current version against the given image's version. This enables downgrades to occur even on locked bootloaders and without triggering a factory reset, potentially exploiting now-patched vulnerabilities and accessing user data. The vulnerability can be exploited by a Man-in-the-Middle (MiTM) attacker targeting the update process, as the update transaction does not occur over TLS. Additionally, a physical attacker can reboot the phone into recovery and use 'adb sideload' to push the OTA, provided 'Secure Start-up' is off on OnePlus 3/3T devices.