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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-20581

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 N(7.x), O(8.x), and P(9.0) (Exynos chipsets) software. A stack overflow in the HDCP Trustlet causes arbitrary code execution. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-14665 (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 confidence

A stack overflow vulnerability in the HDCP Trustlet (trusted application running in the Trusted Execution Environment) on Samsung mobile devices with Exynos chipsets running Android N (7.x), O (8.x), and P (9.0) allows attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution by overflowing the stack buffer.

MitigationApply Samsung security patch SVE-2019-14665 (August 2019) which addresses the stack overflow in the HDCP Trustlet; ensure affected devices receive the latest firmware update.

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:= 7.0= 7.1.0= 7.1.1= 7.1.2= 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. Identify device chipset
    Check if the Samsung device uses an Exynos chipset. On the device, go to Settings > About Phone > CPU architecture or use 'lscpu' command if available. Alternatively, check the device model number against Samsung's Exynos-equipped models.
    Affected if Device is NOT using an Exynos chipset, then likely not vulnerable to this specific flaw.
  2. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.sdk' via ADB shell. Verify the Android version is 7.0, 7.1.x, 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0.
    Affected if Android version falls within 7.0 through 9.0 inclusive, indicating potential exposure.
  3. Verify HDCP Trustlet presence
    The HDCP Trustlet is a trusted application running in the TEE. Check if HDCP-related services are active. On rooted devices, examine /vendor/tee or /data/tEE directories for hdcp* files. Alternatively, check TEE logs or use 'dmesg | grep -i tee' via ADB to identify loaded trustlets.
    Affected if HDCP Trustlet is present and loaded in the TEE environment, which is required for exploitation.
  4. Check Samsung security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell. Compare against August 2019 or later Samsung security updates.
    Affected if Security patch level is earlier than August 2019, meaning the SVE-2019-14665 fix has not been applied.

Device is affected if it is a Samsung device with an Exynos chipset, running Android 7.0-9.0, with the HDCP Trustlet present, and the Samsung security patch level is before August 2019.

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 Samsung security patch SVE-2019-14665 (August 2019) which addresses the stack overflow in the HDCP Trustlet; ensure affected devices receive the latest firmware update.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

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

  1. Check your device model and current Android version in Settings > About Phone
  2. Identify your specific Samsung device model number (e.g., SM-G930F, SM-N950F, etc.)
  3. Visit the Samsung Security Portal at security.samsungmobile.com and locate the SVE-2019-14665 vulnerability notice
  4. Check your device's current security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Security patch level
  5. If the security patch level is earlier than the fix release for SVE-2019-14665, navigate to Settings > Software Update and download and install the latest Samsung security update
  6. After updating, verify the security patch level has been updated to include the fix for this vulnerability
Caveat Updating to a newer Samsung security patch should not cause breaking changes; however, ensure you back up 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
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,420
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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-2019-20581 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