CVE-2026-20997
Published: 16 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-20997 is a medium-severity Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature (CWE-347) vulnerability in Samsung Smart Switch. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 16.7th 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 CM-14 (Signed Components) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-20997, published on 2026-03-16, involves improper verification of cryptographic signature (CWE-347) in Samsung Smart Switch versions prior to 3.7.69.15. This flaw allows remote attackers to potentially bypass authentication mechanisms. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), classifying it as critical due to its network accessibility, low attack complexity, and lack of prerequisites.
Remote attackers without privileges or user interaction can exploit this issue over the network. Successful exploitation enables authentication bypass, potentially granting unauthorized access and leading to high-impact compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Samsung's security advisory for March 2026, available at https://security.samsungmobile.com/serviceWeb.smsb?year=2026&month=03, addresses the vulnerability. Mitigation requires updating Smart Switch to version 3.7.69.15 or later.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-12311
Vulnerability details
Improper verification of cryptographic signature in Smart Switch prior to version 3.7.69.15 allows remote attackers to potentially bypass authentication.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The vulnerability allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to bypass authentication over the network in Samsung Smart Switch, a public-facing application component, directly mapping to T1190: Exploit Public-Facing Application.
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Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
SI-7 requires cryptographic verification of software integrity, directly addressing the improper signature verification flaw in Smart Switch that enables authentication bypass.
SI-2 mandates timely flaw remediation and patching, essential for deploying the fixed Smart Switch version 3.7.69.15 or later to eliminate the vulnerability.
CM-14 enforces the use and verification of signed software components, mitigating risks from improper cryptographic signature handling in applications like Smart Switch.