CVE-2019-20560
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 O(8.x) and P(9.0) (with TEEGRIS) software. The BIOSUB Trustlet has an out of bounds write. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-15261 (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 · moderate confidenceAn out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in the BIOSUB Trustlet running within Samsung's TEEGRIS trusted execution environment on mobile devices with Android O (8.x) and P (9.0). This memory corruption flaw in the trusted application could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the TEE, which operates at a higher privilege level than the main Android OS.
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= 8.0= 8.1= 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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Identify Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if Version equals 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0
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Confirm Samsung device with TEEGRISCheck if device is Samsung by running 'getprop ro.product.brand' via ADB; TEEGRIS is Samsung's proprietary TEE implementationAffected if Device is a Samsung and uses TEEGRIS trusted execution environment
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Check security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADBAffected if Patch level is earlier than October 2019 or the field is empty/unavailable
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Verify BIOSUB Trustlet presenceThe BIOSUB Trustlet is a trusted application within TEEGRIS; its presence can be inferred if the device runs the vulnerable Android versions on Samsung hardwareAffected if Device runs Android 8.0/8.1/9.0 on Samsung hardware without the October 2019 security update
A user is affected if their Samsung device runs Android 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 and is missing the October 2019 security update (SVE-2019-15261).
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.
dbcve · scopedApply Samsung's October 2019 security update (SVE-2019-15261) which addresses this vulnerability. Devices that cannot receive official security updates should be considered at risk and users should avoid processing untrusted data.
Android 10 or later with corresponding October 2019 or later Samsung Security Maintenance Release (SMR)
- Check your device model and current Android/security patch version in Settings > About Phone
- Navigate to Settings > Software Update and download/install any available updates
- Ensure the security patch level is at least October 2019 or later
- If no update is available, contact your device carrier or Samsung support for firmware update availability
- Verify the security patch level has been updated after installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,160.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-20560 — 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-2019-20560 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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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.
- 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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