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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-39854

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Improper protection in IOMMU prior to SMR Oct-2022 Release 1 allows unauthorized access to secure memory.

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

This is an IOMMU (Input-Output Memory Management Unit) vulnerability in Samsung mobile processors prior to the October 2022 Security Maintenance Release (SMR). The IOMMU fails to properly protect secure memory, allowing unauthorized access to protected memory regions. This is a hardware/firmware-level flaw that could allow privilege escalation or data exposure from secure domains.

MitigationApply the SMR October 2022 Release 1 or later security patch from Samsung, which addresses the IOMMU protection failure. For devices no longer receiving vendor updates, consider compensating controls such as network segmentation or restricting sensitive operations.

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= 11.0= 12.0

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version and confirm it shows 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0
    Affected if Android version is 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0 (later versions are not listed as affected)
  2. Confirm Samsung device with Exynos processor
    Check the device model in Settings > About Phone > Model Number, then search whether it uses a Samsung Exynos chipset (common in Galaxy A, M, and some S/FE series)
    Affected if Device uses a Samsung mobile processor (Exynos) and is on Android 10-12
  3. Check Security Patch Level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Software information > Security patch level and note the date shown
    Affected if Security patch level is dated September 2022 or earlier, indicating the October 2022 SMR has not been applied
  4. Verify SMR version via build number
    Check Settings > About Phone > Build number; Samsung SMR releases are indicated in the build string (for example, Axxx, Bxxx prefixes) - compare against October 2022 SMR builds
    Affected if Build number corresponds to an SMR version earlier than October 2022 (the SMR containing the fix)
  5. Check IOMMU kernel configuration (requires root)
    If root access is available, check /sys/class/misc/iommu or review kernel boot logs for 'iommu' entries to confirm the IOMMU subsystem is active on the device
    Affected if IOMMU is enabled and the device meets the version/patch criteria above - the vulnerability is present in the IOMMU implementation

A user is affected if they have a Samsung device with an Exynos processor running Android 10, 11, or 12 with a security patch level dated before the October 2022 Samsung Security Maintenance Release.

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 the SMR October 2022 Release 1 or later security patch from Samsung, which addresses the IOMMU protection failure. For devices no longer receiving vendor updates, consider compensating controls such as network segmentation or restricting sensitive operations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Samsung SMR October 2022 Release 1 or later

  1. 1. Go to Settings on your Samsung Android device
  2. 2. Navigate to Software update
  3. 3. Tap on Download and install
  4. 4. Ensure the device updates to the October 2022 Samsung SMR (Security Monthly Release) or later
  5. 5. Verify the security patch level is October-2022 or newer in Settings > About phone > Software information > Security patch level

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2022-39854 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