dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-20562

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 P(9.0) (with TEEGRIS) software. There is a buffer overflow in the BIOSUB Trustlet. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-15264 (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 confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the BIOSUB Trustlet (a trusted application running in Samsung's TEEGRIS Trusted Execution Environment) on Samsung mobile devices running Android P (9.0). The BIOSUB trustlet handles biometric-related operations, and the overflow could allow an attacker with sufficient privileges to execute arbitrary code in the trusted execution environment, bypassing normal Android sandboxing.

MitigationApply the October 2019 Samsung security update (SVE-2019-15264) which contains the patched BIOSUB trustlet. This is a firmware-level fix that must be delivered through Samsung's security update mechanism; no workarounds are available.

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:= 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. Verify Android version is 9.0
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if The device is running Android 9.0 (Pie)
  2. Confirm device is a Samsung model
    Check the device model in Settings > About Phone > Model number, or run 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADB
    Affected if The device is a Samsung Galaxy model (this vulnerability affects Samsung's TEEGRIS implementation only)
  3. Check Samsung security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Software information > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than October 2019 (SVE-2019-15264)
  4. Verify if biometric enrollment is in use
    Check Settings > Security > Biometrics, or observe if any biometric authentication (fingerprint, face, iris) has been set up on the device
    Affected if Biometric features are enabled and the device runs Android 9.0 on an unpatched Samsung firmware

The device is affected if it is a Samsung device running Android 9.0 with a security patch level earlier than October 2019 and biometric authentication is available on the device.

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 October 2019 Samsung security update (SVE-2019-15264) which contains the patched BIOSUB trustlet. This is a firmware-level fix that must be delivered through Samsung's security update mechanism; no workarounds are available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Samsung Android 9.0 devices with TEEGRIS should receive the October 2019 security patch (SVE-2019-15264) or subsequent monthly security updates

  1. Check the device's current Android security patch level in Settings > About phone > Software information
  2. Apply the October 2019 Samsung security update or later via Settings > Software update > Download and install
  3. Alternatively, check for and apply the latest available Samsung security patch for the device
  4. Verify the security patch level has been updated after installation
Caveat Security patches typically have minimal breaking changes; however, ensure backups of critical data are made before applying system 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
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,720
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,352.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-20562 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2019-20562 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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