dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2026-20971

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Use After Free in PROCA driver prior to SMR Jan-2026 Release 1 allows local attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code.

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

Use-After-Free vulnerability in the PROCA (likely Process Authentication) Samsung kernel driver allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary code by freeing memory and then accessing it after the free, potentially achieving privilege escalation.

MitigationApply Samsung's SMR Jan-2026 Release 1 or later security update to affected devices; prioritize patching given the local code execution risk and high CVSS score.

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= 16.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if The reported Android version is exactly 13.0, 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0
  2. Identify kernel version
    Run 'uname -r' via ADB shell or check /proc/version
    Affected if Kernel version corresponds to the affected Android release builds (for context only, not a definitive check)
  3. Confirm PROCA driver presence
    Check /proc/keys or list kernel modules for 'proca' via 'lsmod | grep proca' in ADB root shell, or inspect /sys/kernel/proca/ if directory exists
    Affected if PROCA driver is loaded and the device runs an affected Android version

A device is affected if it runs Android version 13.0, 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 with the PROCA kernel driver loaded, as the use-after-free requires the vulnerable driver to be present.

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 Samsung's SMR Jan-2026 Release 1 or later security update to affected devices; prioritize patching given the local code execution risk and high CVSS score.

Recommended fix High confidence

SMR Jan-2026 Release 1 (or later security update)

  1. Navigate to Settings > Security and privacy (or Settings > Samsung Security) on the Samsung device
  2. Check the Samsung Security update status and verify the SMR version is Jan-2026 Release 1 or later
  3. If not updated, go to Settings > Software update and tap Download and install to receive the latest Samsung security update
  4. Ensure the device is connected to Wi-Fi and has sufficient battery (>50%) before initiating the update
  5. After installation, verify the SMR version has updated to Jan-2026 Release 1 or later to confirm the vulnerability is patched
Caveat Samsung monthly security updates are generally backward-compatible with no expected breaking changes; however, always back up important data before applying system updates

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2026-20971 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • 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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