CVE-2020-0266
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 factory reset protection, there is a possible FRP bypass due to a missing permission check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-11Android ID: A-111086459
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 confidenceIn Android's factory reset protection (FRP), a missing permission check allows a local attacker to bypass FRP and escalate privileges. The vulnerability exists in Android-11 due to inadequate access control validation during the FRP unlock flow, enabling a user or process to circumvent the protection mechanism without elevated privileges or user interaction.
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= 11.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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.
-
Verify Android version is 11.0Check the device settings: Settings > About Phone > Android version. Alternatively, run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell.Affected if The displayed version is exactly 11.0 (Android 11)
-
Confirm FRP is configuredFRP (Factory Reset Protection) is typically enabled when a Google account is added to the device. Check if any Google account is synced on the device under Settings > Accounts.Affected if At least one Google account is configured on the device, meaning FRP would normally be active after a factory reset
-
Check FRP bypass protection statusAfter a factory reset, the FRP lock screen should appear requesting the last synced Google account credentials. If the device bypasses this screen and proceeds directly to setup, the vulnerability may be present.Affected if After a factory reset, the device does not prompt for the previously synced Google account credentials and allows direct access to the setup wizard
-
Verify vendor patch levelCheck the Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. The patch should be dated after the CVE disclosure (January 2020).Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the vendor fix release date for CVE-2020-0266
A device is affected if it runs Android 11.0 exactly, has FRP protection enabled via a Google account, and has not received the vendor-specific security patch that adds proper permission checks in the FRP code path.
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 vendor patch for CVE-2020-0266 which adds proper permission checks in the FRP code path to enforce authorization before allowing factory reset bypass operations.
- Consultation2.0 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 $4,960.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0266 — 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-2020-0266 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data