Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-20921

Memory Safety in Samsung Notes ≤ 4.4.26.71

Published
06 March 2025
Modified
16 July 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0027 20th percentile
Risk Priority 42 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-20921 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Samsung Notes. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 20th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-20921 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability (CWE-125) affecting Samsung Notes versions prior to 4.4.26.71. The flaw occurs during the application of binary data to text content, enabling attackers to access memory outside the intended boundaries.

Exploitation requires local access, low attack complexity, and low privileges, with no user interaction needed. A successful attack yields high confidentiality impact by disclosing sensitive out-of-bounds memory contents, while integrity and availability remain unaffected (CVSS 5.5: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).

Samsung's security advisory for March 2025, accessible at https://security.samsungmobile.com/serviceWeb.smsb?year=2025&month=03, addresses the issue, with mitigation achieved by updating to Samsung Notes version 4.4.26.71 or later.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Out-of-bounds read in applying binary of text content in Samsung Notes prior to version 4.4.26.71 allows attackers to read out-of-bounds memory.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-34635Same product: Samsung Notes
CVE-2025-21067Same product: Samsung Notes
CVE-2025-20919Same product: Samsung Notes
CVE-2024-34628Same product: Samsung Notes
CVE-2025-21066Same product: Samsung Notes
CVE-2024-34627Same product: Samsung Notes
CVE-2024-34625Same product: Samsung Notes
CVE-2025-20915Same product: Samsung Notes
CVE-2024-34634Same product: Samsung Notes
CVE-2024-34624Same product: Samsung Notes

Affected Assets

samsung
notes
≤ 4.4.26.71

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation directly finds out-of-bounds read flaws through static analysis, fuzzing, and dynamic bounds checks.

Secure engineering principles require bounds checking and memory-safe constructs that stop out-of-bounds reads from being introduced.

Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.

Input validation rejects malformed indices or lengths that would otherwise cause reads outside buffer bounds.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.

References