dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2025-20964

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
Out-of-bounds write in parsing media files in libsavsvc.so prior to SMR May-2025 Release 1 allows local attackers to write out-of-bounds 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

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in libsavsvc.so, a Samsung media service library, that allows local attackers to write to arbitrary memory locations via specially crafted media files. The vulnerability is triggered during media file parsing and exists in versions prior to SMR May-2025 Release 1.

MitigationApply the SMR May-2025 Release 1 or later security update to affected Samsung devices, as this is a firmware-level vulnerability in Samsung's proprietary library that requires vendor-supplied patches.

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:= 13.0= 14.0= 15.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if Version is 13.0, 14.0, or 15.0 (versions outside this range are not affected)
  2. Check Samsung Security Patch Level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Software information > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB
    Affected if Patch level is earlier than May 2025 (e.g., April 2025 or earlier) - later patches contain the fix
  3. Verify vulnerable library presence
    Check for /vendor/lib/libsavsvc.so or /system/lib/libsavsvc.so using a file manager or 'find / -name libsavsvc.so' via ADB root shell
    Affected if The library exists on the device (required for the vulnerability to be present)
  4. Confirm media service is enabled
    Check if Samsung media or gallery app has permission to access media files, or verify 'savsvc' process appears in process list via 'ps -A | grep savsvc'
    Affected if The media parsing feature is actively used - the vulnerability triggers during media file parsing

Device is affected if it runs Android 13, 14, or 15 AND has a Security Patch Level before May-2025 Release 1 AND contains the libsavsvc.so library with media services enabled.

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 May-2025 Release 1 or later security update to affected Samsung devices, as this is a firmware-level vulnerability in Samsung's proprietary library that requires vendor-supplied patches.

Recommended fix High confidence

SMR May-2025 Release 1 (Security Maintenance Release)

  1. Check your Samsung device model and current Android version in Settings > About Phone
  2. Navigate to Settings > Software Update and tap 'Download and install' to check for the May-2025 SMR (Samsung Mobile Security Maintenance Release) update
  3. If the update is available, ensure your device is connected to Wi-Fi and has sufficient battery (at least 50%)
  4. Download and install the SMR May-2025 Release 1 update which contains the fix for the out-of-bounds write vulnerability in libsavsvc.so
  5. After installation, verify the patch level reflects May-2025 in Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Security patch level
Caveat Security updates typically have minimal risk; ensure you back up important data before applying any system update

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,120
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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-2025-20964 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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