CVE-2026-20978 Missing authorization in Samsung Mobile Devices

What is CVE-2026-20978?

CVE-2026-20978 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Samsung Android, published on 4 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Improper authorization in KnoxGuardManager prior to SMR Feb-2026 Release 1 allows local attackers to bypass the persistence configuration of the application.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-20978?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Samsung Android.

How do I fix CVE-2026-20978?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-20978 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.

Is CVE-2026-20978 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-20978 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Samsung Android

• CVE-2025-21042 Samsung Mobile Devices Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2025-21043 Samsung Mobile Devices Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2021-25487 Samsung Mobile Devices Out-of-Bounds Read Exploited High 7.3
• CVE-2021-25394 Samsung Mobile Devices Race Condition Exploited Medium 6.4
• CVE-2021-25395 Samsung Mobile Devices Race Condition Exploited Medium 6.4

All Samsung Android vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-5hvx-7r7w-mhr8.