AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-35548

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 in Finder on Samsung mobile devices with Q(10.0) software. A call to a non-existent provider allows attackers to cause a denial of service. The Samsung ID is SVE-2020-18629 (December 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

A denial of service vulnerability exists in the Finder application on Samsung mobile devices running Android Q (10.0). The issue occurs when the Finder app attempts to call a non-existent content provider, causing the application to crash or become unresponsive, potentially affecting device usability.

MitigationApply the Samsung security update (SVE-2020-18629) released in December 2020 to affected devices running Android Q. Until patched, monitor for Finder app crashes and consider restricting access to untrusted content that may trigger the vulnerable code path.

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:= 10.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Verify Android version is exactly 10.0
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if Android version shows 10.0 (Android Q)
  2. Confirm device is a Samsung model
    Check device model in Settings > About Phone > Model number, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.product.model'
    Affected if Device is a Samsung model running Android Q
  3. Verify Finder app is installed
    Check for Finder app in app drawer, or run 'adb shell pm list packages | grep finder'
    Affected if Finder app is present on the device
  4. Check if security update SVE-2020-18629 is applied
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Software info > Security patch level, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch'
    Affected if Security patch level is earlier than December 2020 or the SVE-2020-18629 update has not been applied
  5. Monitor for Finder app crashes
    Check device logs via 'adb logcat' or review crash reports in Settings > Apps > Finder > Crash reports, look for content provider errors
    Affected if Finder app exhibits repeated crashes or force-close events

A Samsung device is affected if it runs Android 10.0, has the Finder app installed, and lacks the December 2020 security update SVE-2020-18629.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Samsung security update (SVE-2020-18629) released in December 2020 to affected devices running Android Q. Until patched, monitor for Finder app crashes and consider restricting access to untrusted content that may trigger the vulnerable code path.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,580
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2020-35548 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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