CVE-2020-26601
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 in DirEncryptService on Samsung mobile devices with O(8.x), P(9.0), and Q(10.0) software. PendingIntent with an empty intent is mishandled, allowing an attacker to perform a privileged action via a modified intent. The Samsung ID is SVE-2020-18034 (October 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 confidenceThe DirEncryptService on Samsung mobile devices (Android O 8.x, P 9.0, Q 10.0) improperly handles PendingIntent objects with empty intents. This allows a local or malicious application to modify the intent and execute privileged actions that should be restricted to the system service.
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
- 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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Verify device is a Samsung Galaxy modelGo to Settings > About Phone > Device name and manufacturer, or run: `getprop ro.product.manufacturer`Affected if Manufacturer is not Samsung - the DirEncryptService vulnerability is specific to Samsung devices only
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Confirm Android version is affectedGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run: `getprop ro.build.version.release`Affected if Version is 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, or 10.0 - these are the only affected Android versions listed in this CVE
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Check Samsung security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Software information > Security patch level, or run: `getprop ro.build.version.security_patch`Affected if Patch level is earlier than October 2020 - Samsung fixed this in SVE-2020-18034 (October 2020)
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Verify DirEncryptService accessibilityAttempt to enumerate the service via adb: `dumpsys package com.samsung.android.lool | grep -i DirEncryptService` or check with: `dumpsys activity services | grep -i DirEncrypt`Affected if Service is exposed and responds to intents on an unpatched device with affected Android version
A Samsung device running Android 8.0-10.0 with a security patch level before October 2020 is likely affected if the DirEncryptService is accessible and responds to PendingIntent requests.
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 the Samsung security update (SVE-2020-18034, October 2020) or later patches to affected Galaxy devices. Until patched, minimize exposure by avoiding installation of untrusted applications and monitoring device behavior.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-26601 — 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-2020-26601 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
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