CVE-2019-20588
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. There is type confusion in the SEM Trustlet, leading to arbitrary code execution. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-14891 (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 confidenceType confusion vulnerability in the SEM Trustlet on Samsung mobile devices running Android O (8.x) and P (9.0) with TEEGRIS. The vulnerability allows arbitrary code execution within the Trusted Execution Environment, potentially enabling privilege escalation to the main OS. This is a critical memory corruption flaw in a privileged security component.
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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Confirm device manufacturerCheck if the device is a Samsung mobile device (not Google Pixel, other OEMs, or non-mobile devices). This vulnerability only affects Samsung devices.Affected if Device is not Samsung - the SEM Trustlet with TEEGRIS is a Samsung-specific component.
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Check Android versionNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' in ADB shell.Affected if Android version is 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0. Versions 10 and above are not listed as affected.
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Verify TEEGRIS is presentCheck for the presence of TEEGRIS (Samsung's Trusted Execution Environment) on the device. This is typically a Samsung-specific TEE implementation. Can be checked via 'getprop ro.trustonic.teed.version' or similar TEE-related system properties.Affected if The device uses TEEGRIS. The vulnerability exists specifically in the SEM Trustlet running on TEEGRIS; devices using other TEE implementations (like TrustZone on non-Samsung) are not affected by this specific flaw.
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Check security patch levelNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' in ADB shell.Affected if Security patch level is August 2019 or earlier. The vulnerability was patched in Samsung's August 2019 security update (SVE-2019-14891).
The device is affected if it is a Samsung mobile device running Android 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 with TEEGRIS, and the security patch level is August 2019 or earlier.
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.
From vendor dataApply Samsung's August 2019 security patch (SVE-2019-14891) via official firmware update. No workarounds available for TEE trustlet vulnerabilities; device must be updated to a patched software version.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-20588 — 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-2019-20588 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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