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AndroidOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2026-20982

MEDIUM · 6.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
66/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
Path traversal in ShortcutService prior to SMR Feb-2026 Release 1 allows privileged local attacker to create file with system privilege.

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

A path traversal vulnerability in ShortcutService allows a privileged local attacker to write files to arbitrary filesystem locations with system-level privileges. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation on file path parameters, enabling an attacker to escape the intended directory and create files outside the expected scope.

MitigationApply the SMR Feb-2026 Release 1 patch to ShortcutService, which includes proper path sanitization and validation to prevent directory traversal. Review file creation operations to ensure proper authorization checks are enforced.

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:= 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L

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 installed Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB or check Settings > About Phone > Android version
    Affected if Version shows exactly 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 (these are the affected versions)
  2. Determine Samsung SMR patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.sepi' via ADB or check Settings > About Phone > Software information > Build number for SMR date
    Affected if Build shows SMR date earlier than February 2026 Release 1, or patch is not applied
  3. Confirm ShortcutService is accessible
    Run 'dumpsys shortcut' via ADB to query the ShortcutService
    Affected if Service responds and is actively running on the device
  4. Check file creation permissions in ShortcutService directories
    Inspect /data/system/shortcut_service/ or similar shortcut-related directories for world-writable permissions
    Affected if Directory permissions allow write access beyond intended scope (777 or overly permissive ACLs)
  5. Verify path validation in ShortcutService logs
    Run 'logcat -d | grep -i shortcut' via ADB to review recent ShortcutService operations
    Affected if Logs show file path operations without proper sanitization (paths containing ../ patterns)

User is affected if the device runs Android 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 without the Feb-2026 SMR patch applied and ShortcutService is accessible and operational.

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 Feb-2026 Release 1 patch to ShortcutService, which includes proper path sanitization and validation to prevent directory traversal. Review file creation operations to ensure proper authorization checks are enforced.

Recommended fix High confidence

SMR Feb-2026 Release 1

  1. Open Settings on your Samsung Android device
  2. Navigate to Security and Privacy (or Settings > Software Update on some devices)
  3. Tap on Security update or Check for updates
  4. Ensure your device downloads and installs the February 2026 Security Maintenance Release (SMR Feb-2026 Release 1)
  5. After installation, verify the security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Software Information matches February 2026 or later

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2026-20982 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
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