CVE-2019-20597
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 N(7.1), O(8.x), and P(9.0) software. SPENgesture allows arbitrary applications to read or modify user-input logs. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-14170 (June 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 confidenceSPENgesture feature on Samsung mobile devices with Android N(7.1), O(8.x), and P(9.0) contains a permission bypass allowing arbitrary applications to read or modify user-input logs collected by the S Pen stylus. This exposes sensitive user input data due to improper access controls.
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= 7.1.0= 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
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
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 is a Samsung mobile deviceCheck the device manufacturer in Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer or run: `getprop ro.product.manufacturer`Affected if Device is not made by Samsung, the attack surface does not apply
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Verify Android version matches affected releasesGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run: `getprop ro.build.version.release`Affected if Version is 7.1.0, 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 - these are the vulnerable versions
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Confirm SPENgesture feature is enabledNavigate to Settings > Advanced Features > S Pen > SPENgesture, or search for "SPENgesture" in Settings searchAffected if SPENgesture toggle is turned ON - this enables the vulnerable feature
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Audit apps with access to S Pen or stylus dataGo to Settings > Apps > Permissions > Stylus pen (or Stylus access), and review the list of granted applicationsAffected if Any third-party or non-system app has permission to access S Pen input data, indicating the bypass is active
A Samsung device running Android 7.1.0, 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 with the SPENgesture feature enabled is affected by this permission bypass vulnerability.
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 security updates (June 2019 or later) to affected devices. Implement application whitelisting or mobile device management (MDM) policies to restrict which apps can access sensitive data and logs.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-20597 — 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-2019-20597 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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