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Wear OsOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2025-20946

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
No privileges 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 handling of exceptional conditions in pairing specific bluetooth devices in Galaxy Watch Bluetooth pairing prior to SMR Apr-2025 Release 1 allows local attackers to pair with specific bluetooth devices without user interaction.

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 confidence

This is a Bluetooth pairing vulnerability in Samsung Galaxy Watch devices prior to the SMR Apr-2025 Release 1. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of exceptional conditions during Bluetooth pairing, allowing a local attacker within Bluetooth range to pair with specific Bluetooth devices without requiring user interaction - effectively bypassing the normal authentication and authorization checks.

MitigationApply the SMR Apr-2025 Release 1 or later software update to affected Galaxy Watch devices to remediate this vulnerability.

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
Wear OsOperating system
Affected:= 5.0

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Wear OS version on Galaxy Watch
    Navigate to Settings > About Watch > Software Information on the Galaxy Watch, or check through the Galaxy Wearable app on the paired phone under Watch Settings > Software Information
    Affected if The displayed Wear OS version is exactly 5.0
  2. Verify Bluetooth is enabled
    Swipe down from the watch face to access quick settings and confirm the Bluetooth icon is active, or check Settings > Connections > Bluetooth on the watch
    Affected if Bluetooth is turned ON - the vulnerability only applies when Bluetooth is enabled and in pairing-discoverable state
  3. Check pairing mode status
    Access Settings > Connections > Bluetooth on the watch and observe if the device is currently in pairing mode or visible to nearby devices
    Affected if The watch is in pairing mode or set to be visible to paired devices - the flaw exploits the exceptional condition handling during the pairing process
  4. Confirm device model is Galaxy Watch
    Verify the device is a Samsung Galaxy Watch model by checking Settings > About Watch > Model Name
    Affected if The device is a Samsung Galaxy Watch running Wear OS 5.0 - only this specific product and version combination is affected

A user is affected if their Samsung Galaxy Watch runs Wear OS version 5.0 and has Bluetooth enabled, as the vulnerability allows unauthorized pairing without user interaction on this specific version.

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 Apr-2025 Release 1 or later software update to affected Galaxy Watch devices to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

SMR Apr-2025 Release 1 (or later) for Galaxy Watch devices running Wear OS 5.0

  1. 1. On your Galaxy Watch, go to Settings
  2. 2. Navigate to About Watch or General settings
  3. 3. Check the current Software version/SMR version
  4. 4. Go to Settings > Software Update > Download and Install
  5. 5. Wait for the SMR Apr-2025 Release 1 update to become available for your specific Galaxy Watch model
  6. 6. Download and install the update
  7. 7. After installation, verify the SMR version shows April 2025 Release 1 or later
Caveat Samsung security updates typically do not introduce breaking changes; standard backup of watch data is recommended before updating

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

Fix this in Wear Os Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
3.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2025-20946 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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