CVE-2020-12746
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 O(8.X), P(9.0), and Q(10.0) (Exynos chipsets) software. Attackers can bypass the Secure Bootloader protection mechanism via a heap-based buffer overflow to execute arbitrary code. The Samsung ID is SVE-2020-16712 (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 · high confidenceA heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the Secure Bootloader on Samsung mobile devices running Android O (8.X), P (9.0), and Q (10.0) with Exynos chipsets allows attackers to bypass the Secure Bootloader protection mechanism and execute arbitrary code.
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= 8.0= 8.1= 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the device chipsetCheck if the Samsung device uses an Exynos chipset via Settings > About Phone, or by examining kernel information using 'uname -a' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' if terminal access is availableAffected if The device uses an Exynos chipset (vulnerable hardware)
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Verify Android OS versionNavigate to Settings > About Phone and check the Android version fieldAffected if Android version is 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, or 10.0 (vulnerable OS versions)
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Confirm Secure Bootloader is in useAccess the device bootloader menu (typically via hardware button combination during power-on) and verify the Secure Bootloader status if displayedAffected if Secure Bootloader protection is enabled (the vulnerability allows bypassing this protection)
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Check firmware build and patch levelIn Settings > About Phone, note the Build number and compare it against Samsung's official security patch releases; if possible, check for the CVE-specific patch in Samsung's security bulletinAffected if Firmware predates the security update that addresses CVE-2020-12746
The device is affected if it is a Samsung device with an Exynos chipset running Android 8.0 through 10.0 with Secure Bootloader enabled and without the vendor firmware patch applied.
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 vendor firmware updates from Samsung as they become available; until patched, mitigate by restricting physical access to devices, avoiding untrusted peripherals, and monitoring for indicators of compromise.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,744.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12746 — 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-2020-12746 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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- 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