CVE-2025-20945
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 · uneditedImproper access control in Galaxy Watch prior to SMR Apr-2025 Release 1 allows local attackers to access sensitive information of Galaxy watch.
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 improper access control vulnerability in Samsung Galaxy Watch devices running firmware prior to the SMR April-2025 Release 1. The flaw allows a local attacker to bypass authentication or access controls to retrieve sensitive information stored on the watch, such as personal data, health metrics, or credentials.
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= 5.0CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 Galaxy Watch firmware versionOn the Galaxy Watch, navigate to Settings > About Watch > Software Information to view the current firmware version. Alternatively, open the Galaxy Wearable app on the paired phone, select the connected watch, and check the software version information.Affected if The firmware version is earlier than the SMR April-2025 Release 1
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Confirm the Wear OS versionOn the watch, go to Settings > About Watch > Software Information to verify the operating system version displayed. The Galaxy Wearable app may also show OS build details under the device information section.Affected if The device is running Wear OS version 5.0 specifically
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Verify the SMR patch dateIn Settings > About Watch > Software Information, check for the SMR (Samsung Maintenance Release) patch date or build date. This field indicates when the device last received a security maintenance update.Affected if The SMR patch date is missing, shows a date prior to April 2025, or the device has not received the April-2025 security release
The device is vulnerable if it runs Wear OS 5.0 with firmware earlier than the SMR April-2025 Release 1, as the authentication bypass flaw exists in unpatched versions.
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 Apr-2025 Release 1 or later firmware update to affected Galaxy Watch devices to patch the access control vulnerability.
SMR Apr-2025 Release 1
- On the paired smartphone, open the Galaxy Wearable app
- Navigate to Watch Settings > Watch software update
- Check for and install the SMR Apr-2025 Release 1 update
- Alternatively, on the Galaxy Watch itself, go to Settings > Watch > Watch software update
- Verify the update was successfully installed by checking the software version
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
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-20945 — 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-2025-20945 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data