CVE-2019-20553
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered on Samsung mobile devices with P(9.0) (SM6150, SM8150, SM8150_FUSION, exynos7885, exynos9610, and exynos9820 chipsets) software. Arbitrary memory read and write operations can occur in RKP. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-15143 (October 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 · high confidenceA critical vulnerability in Samsung mobile devices running Android P (9.0) on specific chipsets (SM6150, SM8150, SM8150_FUSION, exynos7885, exynos9610, exynos9820) allows arbitrary memory read and write operations in RKP (Real-time Kernel Protection). This security bypass in Samsung's Knox real-time kernel protection mechanism enables attackers to potentially execute code with elevated privileges or bypass security controls.
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= 9.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Software Information and verify the Android version is exactly 9.0 (Pie)Affected if Android version is 9.0
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Identify the chipset modelCheck the device model number and chipset by running 'grep ro.hardware /system/build.prop' in ADB shell or checking the About Phone section for processor/chipset detailsAffected if Chipset is one of: SM6150, SM8150, SM8150_FUSION, exynos7885, exynos9610, or exynos9820
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Verify RKP/Knox protection statusCheck if Samsung Knox real-time kernel protection is present and enabled on the device - this is typically visible in Settings > Biometrics and Security > Samsung Knox or via 'getprop ro.boot.verifiedbootstate' in ADB shellAffected if RKP/Knox security protection is present and enabled on the device
A device is affected if it runs Android 9.0 on one of the listed Samsung chipsets (SM6150, SM8150, SM8150_FUSION, exynos7885, exynos9610, exynos9820) and has Samsung's RKP/Knox protection enabled.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataApply the October 2019 Samsung security update (SVE-2019-15143) to affected devices. If devices cannot be updated, consider network segmentation or device replacement as these chipsets may have reached end-of-life status.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-20553 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-20553 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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