CVE-2025-20881
Published: 04 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2025-20881 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Samsung Android. Its CVSS base score is 7.0 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 20.0th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-16 (Memory Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2025-20881 is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the libsthmbc.so library, specifically when accessing the buffer that stores decoded video frames. This issue affects the library in versions prior to the Samsung Monthly Release (SMR) Jan-2025 Release 1. Classified under CWE-787, it has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.0 (AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H), indicating high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts.
Local attackers with no required privileges can exploit this vulnerability, but it demands high attack complexity and user interaction to trigger. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges on the affected device.
Samsung's security advisory for January 2025, available at https://security.samsungmobile.com/securityUpdate.smsb?year=2025&month=01, details the patch in SMR Jan-2025 Release 1, recommending users apply the update to mitigate the risk.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-2194
Vulnerability details
Out-of-bounds write in accessing buffer storing the decoded video frames in libsthmbc.so prior to SMR Jan-2025 Release 1 allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code with privilege. User interaction is required for triggering this vulnerability.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Out-of-bounds write in media library directly enables local arbitrary code execution leading to elevated privileges (T1068) and client-side execution via crafted input (T1203).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
SI-2 requires timely remediation of flaws like the out-of-bounds write in libsthmbc.so by applying the Samsung SMR Jan-2025 Release 1 patch.
SI-16 implements memory protection mechanisms such as address space layout randomization and non-executable memory to block exploitation of the out-of-bounds write vulnerability.
SI-10 enforces validation of video frame inputs to libsthmbc.so, reducing the risk of malformed decoded frames triggering the out-of-bounds write.