Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-20968

Memory Safety in Samsung Android 13.0 … 16.0

Published
09 January 2026
Modified
15 January 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 6.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0016 5th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-20968 is a medium-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Samsung Android. Its CVSS base score is 6.7 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 5th 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 SI-16 (Memory Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Use after free in DualDAR prior to SMR Jan-2026 Release 1 allows local privileged attackers to execute arbitrary code.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
Why these techniques?

UAF vulnerability directly enables local privilege escalation via arbitrary code execution (CWE-416).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-20971Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2024-20861Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2024-20833Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2021-25370Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2021-25394Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21459Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2026-47310Same vendor: Samsung
CVE-2024-31960Same vendor: Samsung
CVE-2025-23101Same vendor: Samsung
CVE-2025-23104Same vendor: Samsung

Affected Assets

samsung
android
13.0, 14.0, 15.0, 16.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires applying the vendor patch (SMR Jan-2026 Release 1) that eliminates the use-after-free flaw in DualDAR.

prevent

Enforces memory protection mechanisms that block use-after-free exploitation and resulting arbitrary code execution.

prevent

Restricts the set of local accounts that possess the elevated privileges required to trigger the DualDAR vulnerability.

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 SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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.

detects

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References