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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-20611

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), Go(8.1), P(9.0), and Go(9.0) (Exynos chipsets) software. A baseband stack overflow leads to arbitrary code execution. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-13963 (April 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 stack overflow vulnerability in the baseband processor (cellular modem) firmware on Samsung mobile devices with Exynos chipsets running Android N (7.x), O (8.x), Go (8.1), and P (9.0). The overflow occurs in the baseband stack, allowing an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution at the baseband level, which operates with high privileges below the main Android OS.

MitigationApply Samsung firmware security updates (SVE-2019-13963). Until patched, the device remains vulnerable to remote baseband compromise via malformed cellular network packets. No user-facing workarounds available for baseband-level vulnerabilities.

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 chipset architecture
    Check the device specifications or run 'getprop ro.hardware' in terminal to determine if the device uses an Exynos chipset
    Affected if Chipset is NOT Exynos-based - devices with Qualcomm or other modems are not affected by this specific vulnerability
  2. Check Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' in terminal
    Affected if Android version is NOT 7.0, 7.1.x, 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 - versions outside this range are not affected
  3. Verify baseband firmware version
    Check baseband/modem version in Settings > About Phone > Baseband version, or run 'getprop gsm.version.baseband' in terminal
    Affected if Unable to verify or baseband version predates the SVE-2019-13963 security patch (Samsung firmware updates contain this fix)

A device is affected if it uses an Exynos chipset, runs Android 7.0-9.0, and lacks the Samsung security update containing the SVE-2019-13963 patch for the baseband processor.

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 firmware security updates (SVE-2019-13963). Until patched, the device remains vulnerable to remote baseband compromise via malformed cellular network packets. No user-facing workarounds available for baseband-level vulnerabilities.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. Check the Samsung Security Website (security.samsungmobile.com) for the SVE-2019-13963 security bulletin to obtain the specific patch information
  2. Verify your device model and current Android/security patch level by navigating to Settings > About Phone > Software Information
  3. Check for available system updates by going to Settings > Software Update > Download and install
  4. Apply the April 2019 Samsung security patch or later, which contains the fix for this vulnerability
  5. After updating, verify the security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Software Information shows the April 2019 security patch date or later
  6. If the device is no longer supported by Samsung and cannot receive security updates, consider replacing the device with a model that continues to receive security support

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2019-20611 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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