CVE-2020-0403
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 the FPC TrustZone fingerprint App, there is a possible invalid command handler due to an exposed test feature. This could lead to local escalation of privilege in the TEE, with System execution privileges required. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android kernelAndroid ID: A-131252923
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 confidenceThis vulnerability exists in the FPC TrustZone fingerprint application where an exposed test feature provides an invalid command handler. An attacker with System execution privileges can exploit this to achieve local privilege escalation within the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), allowing code execution at a higher privilege level than normally permitted.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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.
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Identify FPC fingerprint sensor presenceCheck /proc/bootinfo or kernel boot logs for 'FPC' or 'Fingerprint Cards' sensor identifiers. On some devices, ls /vendor/lib/hw/ | grep -i fpc may show FPC-related hardware modules.Affected if The device does not have an FPC fingerprint sensor, then this specific TrustZone vulnerability does not apply.
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Verify TEE availability and typeCheck /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/tee* or examine /d/tee/ directory if available. Run 'getprop ro.hardware' and check for tee-related properties.Affected if The device does not implement a TEE (Trusted Execution Environment), the vulnerability cannot be exploited as there is no TrustZone component to target.
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Confirm System-level access contextThis vulnerability requires the attacker to already have System execution privileges (not root, but System user level). Verify the current UID via 'id' command - System-level access would show uid=1000(system) or similar.Affected if The device is not already compromised to System privilege level, the exploitation pathway for this privilege escalation is not reachable.
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Check for test feature exposure in TEEThis requires access to TEE debug interfaces or firmware analysis, typically not accessible on consumer devices. Security researchers may examine TEE logs in /d/logd/ or review the FPC Trusted Application binary if dumpable.Affected if The FPC TrustZone test feature is present and exposed in the TEE trusted application - this is the specific vulnerable component for CVE-2020-0403.
The device is affected if it contains an FPC (Fingerprint Cards) TrustZone fingerprint sensor with the test feature enabled in the TEE and an attacker already has System-level execution privileges.
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 dataThis requires a firmware update from the device OEM that includes a patched TEE Trusted Application. Users should apply any available Android security patches promptly.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation20.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0403 — 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-2020-0403 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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