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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-20585

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 O(8.x) and P(9.0) (with TEEGRIS) software. There is type confusion in the SEC_FR Trustlet, leading to arbitrary code execution. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-14851 (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 · moderate confidence

A type confusion vulnerability exists in the SEC_FR Trustlet running within Samsung's TEEGRIS Trusted Execution Environment on devices with Android O (8.x) and P (9.0). This vulnerability allows an attacker to exploit the TEE's trusted applications to achieve arbitrary code execution, potentially bypassing hardware-assisted security boundaries that normally isolate sensitive operations like key storage and biometric processing.

MitigationApply Samsung's monthly security updates containing the SVE-2019-14851 patch; until patched, reduce attack surface by avoiding installation of untrusted applications and sideloading of APKs from unknown sources.

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:= 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. Confirm device is a Samsung model
    Check the device settings or run 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADB to verify the manufacturer is Samsung (TEEGRIS is Samsung-specific)
    Affected if Device is not a Samsung model - the TEEGRIS TEE and SEC_FR Trustlet are Samsung-specific components
  2. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if Android version is 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 - these are the only versions listed as affected
  3. Verify Android build matches exact affected versions
    Check Settings > About Phone > Build number or run 'getprop ro.build.version.incremental' to confirm the exact build
    Affected if Build corresponds to Android 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 - the CVE explicitly lists these versions as affected
  4. Check Samsung security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB
    Affected if Security patch level is earlier than the SVE-2019-14851 patch date - the fix was delivered in Samsung's monthly security updates

User is affected if the device is a Samsung model running Android 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 and the Samsung security patch containing the fix has not been applied

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's monthly security updates containing the SVE-2019-14851 patch; until patched, reduce attack surface by avoiding installation of untrusted applications and sideloading of APKs from unknown sources.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. Check your Samsung device model and current Android/Security patch level in Settings > About phone > Software information
  2. Visit security.samsungmobile.com and search for SVE-2019-14851 to find the specific security bulletin for your device model
  3. Apply the latest Samsung security patch update (released after August 2019) via Settings > Software update > Download and install
  4. Verify the Security patch level in Settings > About phone > Software information reflects a date after the fix was released
  5. If no update is available for your specific model, consider upgrading to a newer device model that receives active security support

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,920
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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-2019-20585 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