AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-12745

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-05-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 Q(10.0) software. Attackers can bypass the locked-state protection mechanism and access clipboard content via USSD. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-16556 (May 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

This vulnerability in Samsung mobile devices running Android Q (10.0) allows attackers to bypass the locked-state protection mechanism and access clipboard content via USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data). The issue stems from a failure to properly enforce lock-screen protections when processing USSD requests, enabling unauthorized clipboard data exposure.

MitigationApply Samsung's May 2020 security patch (SVE-2019-16556) to affected devices. Until patched, avoid leaving sensitive data in the clipboard and consider additional screen-lock timeout settings.

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:= 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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Identify device manufacturer
    Check if the device is made by Samsung. On most Android devices, go to Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer or check the device model number.
    Affected if Device is not Samsung - the vulnerability specifically affects Samsung mobile devices only.
  2. Verify Android version is 10.0
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version. Confirm the version displays exactly 10.0 or Android Q.
    Affected if Android version is not 10.0 - only Android Q (10.0) is affected by this specific CVE.
  3. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. This displays the date of the installed Android security update.
    Affected if Security patch level is earlier than May 2020 - the fix (SVE-2019-16556) was released in Samsung's May 2020 security patch.
  4. Confirm USSD accessibility behavior
    While the screen is locked (with PIN/pattern/password), attempt to trigger a USSD code via the phone dialer. Observe if clipboard content can be accessed or exposed through the USSD response.
    Affected if USSD requests return clipboard data or sensitive information without requiring device unlock - indicates the lock-screen bypass is present.

A Samsung device running Android 10.0 with a security patch level earlier than May 2020 is likely affected if USSD codes can access clipboard content while the screen is locked.

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 Samsung's May 2020 security patch (SVE-2019-16556) to affected devices. Until patched, avoid leaving sensitive data in the clipboard and consider additional screen-lock timeout settings.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
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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-2020-12745 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