CVE-2020-10841
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered on Samsung mobile devices with P(9.0) and Q(10.0) (Exynos 9610 chipsets) software. There is an arbitrary kfree in the vipx and vertex drivers. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-16294 (February 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 · high confidenceA kernel memory corruption vulnerability exists in the vipx and vertex drivers (video/graphics processors) on Samsung mobile devices running Android P (9.0) and Q (10.0) with Exynos 9610 chipsets. The flaw allows an attacker to trigger an arbitrary kfree operation, potentially causing kernel memory corruption, denial of service, or privilege escalation.
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= 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
- 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.
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Identify the device chipsetCheck if the device uses the Exynos 9610 chipset by reviewing the device specifications or using a system info app. On the device, you can check /proc/cpuinfo or use 'getprop ro.hardware' in ADB shell.Affected if The device does not have an Exynos 9610 chipset - the vulnerability only exists on devices with this specific processor
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Confirm Android versionCheck the Android OS version in Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell.Affected if Android version is 9.0 or 10.0 - these are the affected versions according to the CVE; versions outside this range are not affected
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Verify vulnerable drivers existCheck for the presence of vipx and vertex kernel drivers/modules on the device. These can be inspected via /proc/modules or by checking /system/lib/modules/ (if accessible) or by reviewing the kernel config. Run 'lsmod | grep -i vipx' or 'lsmod | grep -i vertex' in ADB shell with root access.Affected if The vipx or vertex drivers are loaded or present on the device - these contain the vulnerability
The device is affected if it uses an Exynos 9610 chipset, runs Android 9.0 or 10.0, and has the vipx or vertex graphics drivers present.
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 vendor-supplied firmware/driver update from Samsung (SVE-2019-16294, released February 2020) to affected devices. Organizations should inventory Exynos 9610 devices and deploy the patch via mobile device management.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10841 — 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-2020-10841 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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