CVE-2025-20885
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 · uneditedOut-of-bounds write in softsim trustlet prior to SMR Jan-2025 Release 1 allows local privileged attackers to cause memory corruption.
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 confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the softsim trustlet, which runs within a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). The flaw allows a local privileged attacker to write data beyond allocated memory boundaries, leading to memory corruption that could potentially be leveraged for privilege escalation or denial of 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= 12.0= 13.0= 14.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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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Check Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version and verify the installed version numberAffected if The version shows 12.0, 13.0, or 14.0 exactly (these are the affected versions)
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Confirm device is SamsungVerify the device manufacturer is Samsung - check Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer or Model nameAffected if The device is not a Samsung product (this CVE affects only Samsung Android devices)
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Check if softsim is provisionedReview device configuration or carrier settings for soft SIM (eSIM) provisioning status - typically found in Settings > Connections > SIM card manager or under carrier-specific menusAffected if Soft SIM or eSIM functionality is actively enabled/configured on the device (the trustlet handles this feature)
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Identify softsim trustlet versionInspect TEE trustlet listing via diagnostic tools or Samsung-specific service menus (may require root or Samsung diagnostic mode access)Affected if A softsim trustlet is present and its version is not confirmed as patched in the Jan-2025 SMR release
The device is likely affected if it is a Samsung Android device running version 12.0, 13.0, or 14.0 with softsim/eSIM functionality enabled and the Jan-2025 SMR patch has not been applied.
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 · scopedApply the SMR Jan-2025 Release 1 update or patch to address the vulnerability in the softsim trustlet. Since exploitation requires local privileged access, prioritize patching vulnerable devices and monitor for any unusual memory behavior.
Samsung SMR Jan-2025 Release 1
- Navigate to Settings > Software update on the Samsung Galaxy device
- Tap 'Download and install' to check for available updates
- Locate and install the January 2025 security update (SMR Jan-2025 Release 1)
- Verify the update was successful by checking Settings > Software update > Security patch level (should show January 2025 or later)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,160.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-20885 — 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-2025-20885 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
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