CVE-2020-35550
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 on Samsung mobile devices with O(8.x), P(9.0), Q(10.0), and R(11.0) software. Attackers can bypass Factory Reset Protection (FRP) via StatusBar. The Samsung ID is SVE-2020-17888 (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 confidenceA Factory Reset Protection (FRP) bypass vulnerability in Samsung mobile devices running Android O(8.x) through R(11.0). Attackers can circumvent the FRP security mechanism (which requires Google account credentials after factory reset) by exploiting the StatusBar component, allowing unauthorized device access and bypassing the intended anti-theft protection.
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= 10.0= 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Samsung mobile devices in the environmentReview device inventory or physically check Settings > About Phone > Model number to confirm the device manufacturer is SamsungAffected if The device is a Samsung mobile device running Android 8.0-11.0 and the December 2020 security update has not been applied
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Check the Android version installedOn the device, go to Settings > About Phone > Android version. Verify the version is 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0Affected if Android version matches 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0
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Check the security patch levelOn the device, go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. Compare the date shown against December 2020Affected if Security patch level is dated before December 2020 (e.g., November 2020 or earlier)
A Samsung mobile device is affected if it runs Android 8.0 through 11.0 and has not received the December 2020 security update, as the vulnerability allows bypassing the Factory Reset Protection feature through the StatusBar component.
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.
dbcve · scopedSamsung addressed this vulnerability in their December 2020 security update. Users should ensure their devices receive the latest Samsung security patch. Organizations should inventory affected devices and enforce patch management policies.
Android 11 (R) or later with December 2020 security patch
- Check for system software updates on the Samsung device
- Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Software Update
- Download and install the latest available security patch
- Verify the device is running Android 11 (R) or later with the December 2020 security patch or newer
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-35550 — 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-2020-35550 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data