CVE-2020-0038
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 · uneditedIn rw_i93_sm_update_ndef of rw_i93.cc, there is a possible read of uninitialized data due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to remote information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-8.0 Android-8.1 Android-9 Android-10Android ID: A-143109193
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 confidenceA missing bounds check in the rw_i93_sm_update_ndef function within the Android NFC subsystem (rw_i93.cc) allows reading uninitialized memory beyond intended buffer boundaries. This information disclosure vulnerability can be exploited remotely without user interaction or elevated privileges.
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= 9.0= 10.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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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Verify Android versionCheck the device Settings > About phone > Android version. Confirm if the version matches 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, or 10.0Affected if The Android version is 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, or 10.0 (exact match to affected versions)
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Confirm NFC is enabledNavigate to Settings > Network & Internet > NFC (or Settings > Connections > NFC on some devices) and verify if NFC is turned ONAffected if NFC is enabled on the device - the vulnerable code path in the rw_i93 component is only reachable when NFC is active
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Check if device uses NFC tag readingReview whether the device regularly reads NFC tags, particularly ISO/IEC 15693 compliant tags, as the vulnerability exists in the rw_i93_sm_update_ndef function which handles NDEF reads from these tagsAffected if The device reads or processes NFC tags, especially ISO/IEC 15693 tags containing NDEF data - this triggers the vulnerable code path
The device is affected if it runs Android 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, or 10.0 with NFC enabled and participates in NFC tag reading operations, as the bounds check vulnerability in the rw_i93 component can be triggered during NDEF record processing.
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 the Android security patch for the corresponding Android version (Android 8.0, 8.1, 9, or 10) which includes the bounds check fix in the NFC rw_i93 component.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0038 — 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-2020-0038 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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