AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-10848

CRITICAL · 9.8 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 →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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.x), P(9.0), and Q(10.0) (Exynos 9810 chipsets) software. Arbitrary memory mapping exists in TEE. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-16665 (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 · moderate confidence

An arbitrary memory mapping vulnerability exists in the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) on Samsung mobile devices powered by Exynos 9810 chipsets running Android O (8.x), P (9.0), and Q (10.0). This flaw could allow an attacker to map arbitrary memory regions within the TEE, potentially leading to code execution or data exposure in the secure enclave.

MitigationApply the Samsung security patch released in February 2020 (SVE-2019-16665). Users should update their devices to the latest available security update level to remediate this vulnerability.

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= 8.1= 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 the device uses an Exynos 9810 chipset
    Check the processor/model information in Settings > About Phone > Model or using the command 'getprop ro.hardware' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' to identify the chipset
    Affected if The device is not powered by Exynos 9810, then it is not affected by this specific vulnerability
  2. Confirm the Android version is 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, or 10.0
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if The Android version falls within 8.0 to 10.0 inclusive, placing it within the affected OS range
  3. Check the TEE is accessible or enabled
    Examine if the Trusted Execution Environment is active by reviewing TEE-related services or kernel configurations; this may require root access or checking /proc/tee/ if available
    Affected if The TEE is present and accessible on the device, making the memory mapping flaw potentially exploitable
  4. Determine the installed security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level or execute 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch'
    Affected if The security patch level is dated February 2020 or earlier, indicating the device has not received the mitigation for SVE-2019-16665

The device is affected if it uses an Exynos 9810 chipset, runs Android 8.0-10.0, has an accessible TEE, and has a security patch level older than February 2020.

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 released in February 2020 (SVE-2019-16665). Users should update their devices to the latest available security update level to remediate this vulnerability.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2020-10848 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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