CVE-2020-12787
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 · uneditedMicrochip Atmel ATSAMA5 products in Secure Mode allow an attacker to bypass existing security mechanisms related to applet handling.
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 confidenceMicrochip Atmel ATSAMA5 microcontrollers running in Secure Mode contain a vulnerability that allows attackers to bypass existing security mechanisms related to applet handling. This security bypass could enable unauthorized access to secure functions or data that should be protected by the secure mode.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the microcontroller modelExamine the hardware markings, BOM (Bill of Materials), or device documentation to determine if the MCU is an Atmel ATSAMA5d21c, ATSAMA5d22c, or ATSAMA5d23c variant. This may require physical inspection of the chip or reviewing vendor hardware specifications.Affected if The microcontroller is one of the following: SAMA5d21c, SAMA5d22c, or SAMA5d23c (any suffix: Cn, Cnr, Cu, Cur).
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Verify firmware versionQuery the device firmware version through vendor-specific interfaces (JTAG, debug ports, or firmware revision commands). Cross-reference the firmware identifier against the affected product list provided in the CVE.Affected if Firmware version matches any of: Atsama5d21c Cu, Atsama5d21c Cur, Atsama5d22c Cn, Atsama5d22c Cnr, AtsAMA5d22c Cu, Atsama5d22c Cur, Atsama5d23c Cn, or Atsama5d23c Cnr.
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Confirm Secure Mode is enabledCheck the device security configuration registers or security policy settings to determine if the SAMA5 microcontroller is running in Secure Mode. This is typically accessible through the device boot configuration, security fuse settings, or secure boot status interface.Affected if The device has Secure Mode (also called Secure Mode or TrustZone security state) actively enabled in the hardware configuration.
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Review applet handling configurationInspect the applet loading mechanism, applet permission tables, and secure applet execution policies. Look for any applet files loaded from external sources or unsigned applets in the system.Affected if The system loads applets from external sources, has unsigned applets enabled, or allows applet loading in Secure Mode.
A system is affected if it uses any of the listed SAMA5 variants (d21c, d22c, d23c) with Secure Mode enabled and handles applets, as the vulnerability allows bypassing secure mode protections.
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 dataContact Microchip for available firmware updates addressing this vulnerability. If no patch is available, review and strengthen alternative security controls such as physical access restrictions, network segmentation, and monitoring for anomalous applet interactions.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,776.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12787 — 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-2020-12787 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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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.
- 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
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