AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-10829

HIGH · 7.8 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 →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 O(8.0), P(9.0), and Q(10.0) (Broadcom chipsets) software. A kernel driver heap overflow leads to arbitrary code execution. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-15880 (March 2020).

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 heap overflow vulnerability exists in a Samsung kernel driver for Broadcom chipsets on devices running Android O (8.0), P (9.0), and Q (10.0). The overflow allows an attacker to gain arbitrary code execution privileges at the kernel level, effectively achieving full device compromise.

MitigationApply the Samsung security patch (SVE-2019-15880, released March 2020) which addresses the kernel driver heap overflow. Users should verify their device has received the latest Samsung security update.

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:= 8.0= 9.0= 10.0

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Android OS version
    Check the device Android version in Settings > About Phone > Android version. The affected versions are exactly 8.0, 9.0, and 10.0.
    Affected if The device runs Android 8.0, Android 9.0, or Android 10.0 (exact version match).
  2. Confirm Samsung security patch level
    Check the device's Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. Look for the Samsung patch SVE-2019-15880 which was released March 2020.
    Affected if The device has not received the March 2020 Samsung security update containing patch SVE-2019-15880.
  3. Identify Broadcom chipset usage
    Check the device hardware specifications or kernel configuration to determine if a Broadcom wireless chipset is present. This information is typically visible in the device specs or via kernel logs.
    Affected if The device uses a Broadcom chipset with the vulnerable Samsung kernel driver loaded.

A device is affected if it runs Android 8.0, 9.0, or 10.0, contains a Broadcom chipset with the Samsung kernel driver, and has not received the March 2020 Samsung security patch SVE-2019-15880.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Samsung security patch (SVE-2019-15880, released March 2020) which addresses the kernel driver heap overflow. Users should verify their device has received the latest Samsung security update.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $6,920
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,072.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10829 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-10829 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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