CVE-2019-20578
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) (Exynos 9820 chipsets) software. A Buffer overflow occurs when loading the UH Partition during Secure Boot. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-14412 (August 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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in the secure boot process of Samsung mobile devices with Exynos 9820 chipsets running Android P (9.0). The overflow occurs when loading the UH Partition during Secure Boot, potentially allowing an attacker to bypass secure boot integrity checks.
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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Confirm Android version is 9.0Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if The device is running Android version 9.0 (Android P)
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Identify the chipset modelGo to Settings > About Phone > Hardware info > Chipset, or run 'getprop ro.hardware' via ADBAffected if The device uses an Exynos 9820 chipset
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Verify Secure Boot statusCheck device bootloader settings or run 'fastboot oem device-info' (requires device in fastboot mode)Affected if Secure Boot is enabled on the device
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Check Samsung security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADBAffected if The security patch level is earlier than August 2019 (SVE-2019-14412)
The device is affected if it runs Android 9.0 on an Exynos 9820 chipset with Secure Boot enabled and has a security patch level before August 2019.
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 security update (SVE-2019-14412) containing the vendor patch. Users should ensure their devices are running the latest Samsung security patch level for August 2019 or later.
Update to Samsung security patch level September 2019 or later; if device is end-of-life, consider upgrading to a newer supported Samsung device
- 1. Identify your specific Samsung device model number (found in Settings > About Phone)
- 2. Visit the Samsung Security Maintenance website (security.samsungmobile.com) and search for SVE-2019-14412 to find the specific security patch date that addressed this vulnerability
- 3. Check for system updates: Go to Settings > Software Update > Download and install on your Samsung device
- 4. Verify the installed security patch level: Go to Settings > About Phone > Software information and confirm the security patch level is September 2019 or later
- 5. If no update is available, contact your device manufacturer or carrier for firmware support
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,776.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-20578 — 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-2019-20578 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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