AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2015-3843

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-10-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The SIM Toolkit (STK) framework in Android before 5.1.1 LMY48I allows attackers to (1) intercept or (2) emulate unspecified Telephony STK SIM commands via an application that sends a crafted Intent, related to com/android/internal/telephony/cat/AppInterface.java, aka internal bug 21697171.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A vulnerability in Android's SIM Toolkit (STK) framework before version 5.1.1 allows malicious applications to intercept or emulate Telephony STK SIM commands by sending crafted Intents. The flaw exists in the Intent handling within com/android/internal/telephony/cat/AppInterface.java, enabling unauthorized access to sensitive SIM card interactions.

MitigationUpdate affected devices to Android 5.1.1 LMY48I or later, which contains the patch for this STK framework vulnerability. No configuration-based workarounds exist as this is a platform-level code flaw.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
AndroidOperating system
Affected:<= 5.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if Version is 5.1 or lower (5.1.0, 5.0.x, 4.x, etc.)
  2. Confirm STK capability exists
    Check if the device has SIM Toolkit functionality - look for a STK or SIM Toolkit app in the app drawer, or check for 'com.android.stk' package via 'pm list packages' in ADB
    Affected if STK application or package is present on the device
  3. Verify build is not the patched release
    Check Settings > About Phone > Build number, or run 'getprop ro.build.display.id' via ADB - look specifically for builds that are NOT 'LMY48I' or later
    Affected if Build number is below LMY48I (e.g., LMY47V, LMY47D, or any earlier 5.1 build)

A device is affected if it runs Android 5.1 or earlier with an active STK component present, and its build is not LMY48I or later.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 5.1
Interim mitigation

Update affected devices to Android 5.1.1 LMY48I or later, which contains the patch for this STK framework vulnerability. No configuration-based workarounds exist as this is a platform-level code flaw.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 5.1.1 LMY48I or later

  1. Check current Android version in Settings > About Phone > Android version
  2. Ensure the device is running Android 5.1.1 LMY48I or later to have the fix applied
  3. Check for system updates: Settings > About Phone > Check for updates
  4. If an OTA update is available, download and install it
  5. If no OTA update is available from the carrier/OEM, contact the device manufacturer or wireless carrier for the update
  6. After updating, verify the Android version is 5.1.1 LMY48I or higher in Settings > About Phone
Caveat Security patch releases typically do not introduce breaking changes; this is a routine system update

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,980
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-3843 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data