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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-13831

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-04
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) and P(9.0) (Exynos 7570 chipsets) software. The Trustonic Kinibi component allows arbitrary memory mapping. The Samsung ID is SVE-2019-16665 (June 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

The Trustonic Kinibi Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) component on Samsung mobile devices with Exynos 7570 chipsets running Android O(8.x) and P(9.0) contains a flaw allowing arbitrary memory mapping. This enables an attacker to map arbitrary physical memory from the TEE context, potentially leading to privilege escalation or code execution within the trusted execution environment.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware updates (Samsung security patches post-June 2020). Since this is a TEE firmware vulnerability requiring Samsung/OEM patches, users must update their device software; no workarounds exist for the underlying flaw.

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

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. Identify device model and chipset
    Run 'getprop ro.product.model' to get the Samsung model number, then check /proc/cpuinfo or run 'getprop ro.hardware' to identify the Exynos 7570 chipset
    Affected if The device is a Samsung model with Exynos 7570 chipset
  2. Confirm Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' to check if the Android version is 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0
    Affected if Android version equals 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0
  3. Check TEE implementation
    Run 'getprop ro.trustonic.teed.version' or look for Trustonic Kinibi in /proc/tee version if accessible
    Affected if The device uses Trustonic Kinibi TEE implementation
  4. Verify patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to check the Samsung security patch date
    Affected if Security patch level is earlier than June 2020 (format: YYYY-MM-DD)

The user is affected if they have a Samsung device with Exynos 7570 chipset running Android 8.0-9.0 with Trustonic Kinibi TEE and security patches predating June 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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied firmware updates (Samsung security patches post-June 2020). Since this is a TEE firmware vulnerability requiring Samsung/OEM patches, users must update their device software; no workarounds exist for the underlying flaw.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

June 2020 Security Patch Level (SVE-2019-16665)

  1. 1. Identify the specific Samsung device model and confirm it uses the Exynos 7570 chipset and is running Android 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0
  2. 2. Navigate to the Samsung Security website at security.samsungmobile.com
  3. 3. Search for Samsung ID SVE-2019-16665 or CVE-2020-13831 in the security updates section
  4. 4. Download and install the June 2020 security patch update for the specific device model
  5. 5. Verify the device is running the June 2020 security patch level or later by checking Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Security patch level
Caveat Users should ensure they have a full backup before applying updates; some older Exynos 7570 devices may no longer receive monthly security updates

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,440
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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-2020-13831 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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