CVE-2020-13799
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 · uneditedWestern Digital has identified a security vulnerability in the Replay Protected Memory Block (RPMB) protocol as specified in multiple standards for storage device interfaces, including all versions of eMMC, UFS, and NVMe. The RPMB protocol is specified by industry standards bodies and is implemented by storage devices from multiple vendors to assist host systems in securing trusted firmware. Several scenarios have been identified in which the RPMB state may be affected by an attacker without the knowledge of the trusted component that uses the RPMB feature.
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 confidenceA security vulnerability in the Replay Protected Memory Block (RPMB) protocol affects all versions of eMMC, UFS, and NVMe storage devices. The issue allows an attacker to modify RPMB state without detection by the trusted component that relies on RPMB for firmware integrity, potentially compromising secure boot mechanisms.
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<= 2020-06-03<= 2020-06-03<= 2020-06-03<= 3.11.0CVSS 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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/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 storage device typeList block devices on the system using 'lsblk' or check /proc/partitions and /sys/block/ to see if eMMC, UFS, or NVMe storage devices are presentAffected if The system uses eMMC, UFS, or NVMe storage devices (RPMB is typically implemented on these)
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Check for Western Digital Em132 deviceQuery storage device identification via 'cat /sys/block/*/device/name' or use 'nvme list' for NVMe devices, 'ls /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc*' for eMMC, looking for Em132 model identifiersAffected if The storage device is a Western Digital Inand Cl Em132, Inand Ix Em132, or Inand Ix Em132 Xi variant
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Check storage device firmware versionQuery the firmware version and date via vendor-specific tools (e.g., mmc extcsd read for eMMC, nvme id-ctrl for NVMe, or ufs-utils) or check /sys/class/mmc_card/*/fwrev for eMMCAffected if The firmware version is dated 2020-06-03 or earlier, or the firmware version string indicates a build before that date
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Check Trustedfirmware OP-TEE versionCheck the installed OP-TEE package version via 'dpkg -l libteec1' or 'optee_version' command if available, or examine /sys/kernel/optee/version; also check build configuration in /proc/config.gz if presentAffected if OP-TEE version is 3.11.0 or lower
A system is affected if it uses a Western Digital Em132 storage device with firmware dated 2020-06-03 or earlier, or uses Trustedfirmware OP-TEE version 3.11.0 or lower, and relies on RPMB for secure boot integrity verification.
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 dataThis is a protocol-level vulnerability requiring vendor-specific firmware updates from storage device manufacturers. Organizations should coordinate with their hardware vendors to obtain and deploy patched firmware for affected storage devices, and review trusted component implementations for workarounds.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-13799 — 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-2020-13799 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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