CVE-2025-20890
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 decoding frame buffer in libsthmbc.so prior to SMR Jan-2025 Release 1 allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code with privilege. User interaction is required for triggering this vulnerability.
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 · high confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability exists in libsthmbc.so where an out-of-bounds write occurs during frame buffer decoding. This allows a local attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges by tricking a user into processing a specially crafted media file.
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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 the Android versionCheck the device settings under Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if The version is 12.0, 13.0, or 14.0 on a Samsung device
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Locate the vulnerable librarySearch for libsthmbc.so on the device file system using 'find / -name libsthmbc.so 2>/dev/null' or via ADB shellAffected if The library file exists on the device
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Check library version or build dateIf the library is found, examine its metadata using 'ls -la' or strings/comparison tools if a patched version hash is available for referenceAffected if Unable to confirm the library is a version newer than the SMR Jan-2025 Release 1 patch
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Determine if media processing is accessibleCheck if applications or services that use libsthmbc.so for thumbnail/frame buffer decoding are available to the local userAffected if The thumbnail or media decoding functionality is present and accessible to local users
A Samsung Android device running version 12.0, 13.0, or 14.0 with the libsthmbc.so library present and without the SMR Jan-2025 Release 1 patch applied is vulnerable to this out-of-bounds write during frame buffer decoding.
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 or later patch which addresses the out-of-bounds write in the frame buffer decoder. Organizations should identify all products embedding libsthmbc.so and deploy the patched version.
SMR Jan-2025 Release 1 or later
- Navigate to Settings > Software Update on your Samsung device running Android 12.0, 13.0, or 14.0
- Tap 'Download and install' to check for available updates
- Ensure the device updates to SMR Jan-2025 Release 1 or later which contains the security patch for CVE-2025-20890
- After update completes, verify the device is running the patched version by checking Settings > About Phone > Software Information
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-20890 — 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-2025-20890 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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