Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-20982

Path Traversal in Samsung Android 14.0 … 16.0

Published
04 February 2026
Modified
05 February 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 6.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:L/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 0.0029 22th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-20982 is a medium-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Samsung Android. Its CVSS base score is 6.8 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 22th 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 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Path traversal in ShortcutService prior to SMR Feb-2026 Release 1 allows privileged local attacker to create file with system privilege.

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?

Path traversal (CWE-22) in a local service allows a privileged attacker to create files with system-level privileges, directly enabling exploitation for privilege escalation.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-21048Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2024-34653Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21456Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2024-49411Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2025-21015Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2024-20804Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2026-21000Same vendor: Samsung
CVE-2026-21001Same vendor: Samsung
CVE-2024-20805Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2024-34656Same vendor: Samsung

Affected Assets

samsung
android
14.0, 15.0, 16.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires validation of pathnames supplied to ShortcutService to block traversal sequences that enable unauthorized file creation.

prevent

Enforces access-control decisions on file-system operations so that even a privileged local process cannot write outside its authorized directory scope.

prevent

Limits the privileges granted to the ShortcutService process and calling apps, reducing the chance that a path-traversal flaw yields system-level file creation.

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-02 partial match
prevents

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

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 catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References