CVE-2026-20970
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 SLocation prior to SMR Jan-2026 Release 1 allows local attackers to execute the privileged APIs.
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 confidenceThe vulnerability is an improper access control issue in SLocation (a Samsung mobile location component) that allows local attackers to execute privileged APIs they should not have access to. This represents a local privilege escalation vulnerability where the application fails to properly validate that the calling process has appropriate permissions before allowing access to sensitive location functionality.
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= 15.0= 16.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 OS versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if Version is 15.0 or 16.0 - only these versions are affected
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Verify SLocation component existsCheck for SLocation in the system - run 'pm list packages | grep -i slocation' or inspect /system/framework/ for slocation.jar via ADBAffected if SLocation component is present on the device
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Check security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shellAffected if Patch level is earlier than January 2026 (SMR Jan-2026 Release 1) - the vulnerability is present until patched
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Verify Android build includes SMR Jan-2026 updateRun 'getprop ro.build.version.incremental' or check Build number in About Phone - look for build identifiers corresponding to SMR Jan-2026 Release 1Affected if Build does not include the Jan-2026 security update and Android version is 15.0 or 16.0
User is affected if running Samsung Android 15.0 or 16.0 without the SMR Jan-2026 Release 1 patch applied - the SLocation component retains improper access controls allowing unprivileged API access.
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-2026 Release 1 patch or later to address the access control deficiency in SLocation.
SMR Jan-2026 Release 1 (or later security update)
- Check current Android security patch level on the Samsung device in Settings > About Phone > Software Information
- Apply the SMR Jan-2026 Release 1 security update through Settings > Software Update > Download and Install
- Verify the device is running security patch level January 2026 or later by checking Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Security patch level
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-20970 — 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-2026-20970 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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