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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-20622

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. There is a baseband stack overflow. The Samsung ID is SVE-2018-13188 (February 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

Stack overflow vulnerability in the baseband processor of Samsung mobile devices running Android N (7.x), O (8.x), and P (9.0) on Exynos chipsets. The baseband stack overflow can be exploited remotely via crafted radio frequency signals to potentially execute arbitrary code at the baseband level, granting attacker control over cellular communications.

MitigationApply Samsung security updates (SVE-2018-13188) to affected devices; ensure devices are patched to the latest vendor firmware release addressing this baseband overflow.

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. Confirm your device uses an Exynos chipset
    Check your device specifications in Settings > About Phone > Model/CPU information, or verify through diagnostic apps like CPU-Z. This vulnerability only affects devices with Exynos processors.
    Affected if Your Samsung device does NOT use an Exynos chipset (for example, it uses Qualcomm Snapdragon) - you are NOT affected in that case.
  2. Check your Android version
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version. Record the exact version number shown.
    Affected if Your Android version is NOT 7.0, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 - you are NOT affected in that case.
  3. Check your Samsung security patch level
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. Look for the date of the latest security update.
    Affected if The security patch level is older than the update that addresses SVE-2018-13188 (Samsung's patch for this baseband overflow). Compare your patch date to Samsung's security bulletins for your device model.
  4. Identify your baseband modem firmware version
    Access Settings > About Phone > Baseband version or use dialer code *#1234# (varies by device). This shows the modem firmware running on the device.
    Affected if The baseband version corresponds to an unpatched firmware build for your specific Exynos device model, meaning it predates the SVE-2018-13188 fix.

You are affected if you have a Samsung device with an Exynos chipset running Android 7.x, 8.x, or 9.0, and your security patch level does not include the fix for SVE-2018-13188.

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 updates (SVE-2018-13188) to affected devices; ensure devices are patched to the latest vendor firmware release addressing this baseband overflow.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Samsung devices with Exynos chipsets should receive the February 2019 security patch (SVE-2018-13188). Contact Samsung or device carrier for specific model upgrade paths.

  1. Identify the specific Samsung device model affected (devices with Exynos chipsets running Android N/O/P)
  2. Check the device's current security patch level in Settings > About phone > Software information
  3. Contact Samsung support or the device's carrier to request the February 2019 security update (SVE-2018-13188)
  4. If no update is available from Samsung or carrier, consider migrating to a newer device that receives regular security patches
  5. Verify after patching that the baseband firmware has been updated to a version containing the fix
Caveat Ensure carrier compatibility is maintained when updating baseband/firmware; some carrier-specific customizations may need reconfiguration

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,600
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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-2019-20622 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