CVE-2015-8546
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered on Samsung mobile devices with software through 2015-11-12, affecting the Galaxy S6/S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+, and Galaxy Note5 with the Shannon333 chipset. There is a stack-based buffer overflow in the baseband process that is exploitable for remote code execution via a fake base station. The Samsung ID is SVE-2015-5123 (December 2015).
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 confidenceA stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the baseband processor of Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge/S6 Edge+ and Note5 devices with Shannon333 chipset allows remote code execution via a malicious fake base station. The attacker exploits the baseband process by sending specially crafted messages from a rogue cell tower.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify device modelCheck if the device is a Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, or Note5 by going to Settings > About Phone > Model NumberAffected if Device model is NOT one of Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, or Note5 - the vulnerability does not apply
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Verify chipset typeCheck the baseband/processor chipset information via Settings > About Phone > Hardware or use a system info app to confirm if the device uses the Shannon333 chipsetAffected if Chipset is NOT Shannon333 - this specific vulnerability only affects devices with Shannon333 baseband processor
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Check baseband firmware versionView baseband version in Settings > About Phone > Baseband version or via *#0011# in phone dialer. Compare this version against the December 2015 patch bundle (SVE-2015-5123)Affected if Baseband firmware version is older than the December 2015 update and has not received the SVE-2015-5123 patch bundle - the buffer overflow vulnerability is present
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Confirm network exposureThe vulnerability is exploitable when the device connects to a malicious fake base station (rogue cell tower). Check if the device has mobile network connectivity in areas with unknown or suspicious cell towersAffected if Device has mobile data/cellular connectivity and connects to cell towers - the attack vector requires the baseband processor to receive specially crafted messages from a rogue base station
User is affected if the device is a Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge/S6 Edge+/Note5 with Shannon333 chipset AND the baseband firmware has not been updated to include the December 2015 security patch SVE-2015-5123.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataApply Samsung firmware update SVE-2015-5123 (December 2015 patch bundle). Users should ensure their devices receive the latest carrier/Samsung baseband firmware updates. Consider retiring or isolating affected devices that can no longer receive security updates.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-8546 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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