dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-20545

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
An issue was discovered on Samsung mobile devices with O(8.x) and P(9.0) (Exynos chipsets) software. A buffer overflow in the HDCP Trustlet affects secure TEEGRIS memory. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-15283 (November 2019).

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability in the HDCP Trustlet on Samsung mobile devices with Android O (8.x) and P (9.0) operating systems using Exynos chipsets allows overflow of secure TEEGRIS memory, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution in the trusted execution environment.

MitigationApply the November 2019 Samsung security patch (SVE-2019-15283) which addresses the HDCP Trustlet buffer overflow; affected users should update their device firmware to receive the patched TEEGRIS component.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
AndroidOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 8.1= 9.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Software Information and verify the Android version is 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0
    Affected if Android version is 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0
  2. Confirm Samsung device manufacturer
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Model Number to verify the device is a Samsung product
    Affected if Device is manufactured by Samsung
  3. Verify Exynos chipset
    Check the processor/chipset information via Settings > About Phone > Hardware or by examining /proc/cpuinfo for Exynos-related identifiers
    Affected if Device uses an Exynos chipset (processor identified as Exynos)
  4. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level and note the date; compare against November 2019
    Affected if Security Patch Level is dated before November 2019 (older than 2019-11)
  5. Verify TEEGRIS is present
    Check for TEEGRIS Trusted Execution Environment via security settings or /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/tee*; the presence of TEEGRIS indicates the vulnerable component exists
    Affected if TEEGRIS TEE is present and enabled on the device

Device is affected if it is a Samsung device with Exynos chipset running Android 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 with a security patch level predating the November 2019 Samsung security update.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the November 2019 Samsung security patch (SVE-2019-15283) which addresses the HDCP Trustlet buffer overflow; affected users should update their device firmware to receive the patched TEEGRIS component.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest Samsung security patch (November 2019 or later security patch level for your specific device model)

  1. Check your Samsung device model and current Android/security patch version in Settings > About Phone
  2. Visit security.samsungmobile.com and search for SVE-2019-15283 to find the specific security patch containing the fix
  3. Apply the latest Samsung security update for your device model (typically November 2019 or later security patch level)
  4. Verify the security patch level has been updated in Settings > About Phone > Software Information after applying the update
Caveat Security updates are generally low-risk; ensure backups of important data before applying updates

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-20545 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data