CVE-2026-20990
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 export of android application components in Secure Folder prior to SMR Mar-2026 Release 1 allows local attackers to launch arbitrary activity with Secure Folder 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 · moderate confidenceThis vulnerability in Samsung's Secure Folder (prior to SMR Mar-2026 Release 1) stems from improper export of Android application components, allowing a local attacker to bypass Android's component isolation and launch arbitrary activities with Secure Folder's elevated privileges.
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= 14.0= 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
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 versionRun 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release' or go to Settings > About Phone > Android versionAffected if The version returned is exactly 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0
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Check if Secure Folder is installedRun 'adb shell pm list packages | grep -i securefolder' or check for Secure Folder app in Apps menu in SettingsAffected if Secure Folder package (com.samsung.android.securityzone) is found on the device
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Check SMR firmware versionRun 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.se' or check Settings > About Phone > Software info > Security patch levelAffected if The SMR (Samsung Maintenance Release) version is earlier than SMR Mar-2026 Release 1 or cannot be determined to be Mar-2026 or later
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Verify component export configurationRun 'adb shell dumpsys package com.samsung.android.securityzone | grep -i exported' to list exported componentsAffected if Any Secure Folder activity or service components show 'exported=true' without proper permission checks
The device is affected if it runs Android 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0, has Secure Folder installed, and has SMR firmware before Mar-2026 Release 1, combined with improperly exported Secure Folder components.
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 · scopedUpdate device firmware to SMR Mar-2026 Release 1 or later, which contains Samsung's patch for proper component export controls in Secure Folder.
SMR Mar-2026 Release 1 or later
- Navigate to Settings > Security and Privacy > Security Update on your Samsung device
- Check for and download the SMR Mar-2026 Release 1 security update
- Install the security update
- Verify the update was applied by checking Settings > Security and Privacy > Security Update > Security patch level
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,160.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-20990 — 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-2026-20990 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data