CVE-2016-11029
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 L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), and N(7.0) software. Attackers can read the password of the Mobile Hotspot in the log because of an unprotected intent. The Samsung ID is SVE-2016-7301 (December 2016).
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 · moderate confidenceSamsung mobile devices with L, M, and N software contain an unprotected Android intent that allows any app to query and retrieve the Mobile Hotspot password, which is also being written to system logs in plaintext. This enables local privilege escalation where a malicious application can obtain the Wi-Fi hotspot credentials without any user permission.
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= 5.0= 5.1= 6.0= 7.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Confirm device manufacturer is SamsungCheck device settings under 'About phone' or run 'getprop ro.product.brand' in ADB shell to verify the manufacturerAffected if Device is not a Samsung product - the vulnerability only affects Samsung mobile devices
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Check Android OS versionCheck Settings > About phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' in ADB shellAffected if Version is NOT 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, or 7.0 - only these specific versions are affected according to the CVE
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Determine if Mobile Hotspot has been usedCheck if the Mobile Hotspot feature has been configured or enabled on the device. Look for hotspot settings under Settings > Network & Internet > Mobile Network > Access Point Names or Settings > Connections > Mobile Hotspots, or check for recent hotspot-related log entriesAffected if Mobile Hotspot has never been configured or used - the vulnerability requires the hotspot feature to be active to expose the password
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Inspect system logs for plaintext hotspot passwordRun 'logcat -d | grep -i hotspot' or 'logcat -d | grep -i password' in ADB shell to search for plaintext Wi-Fi credentials in logcat output. Filter for entries containing 'MobileHotspot' or 'ap.*password' patternsAffected if Log entries contain plaintext Wi-Fi hotspot passwords in plain text - this indicates the vulnerability is present and the password has been logged
A user is affected if they have a Samsung device running Android 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, or 7.0 where Mobile Hotspot has been used and plaintext passwords appear in system logs.
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 the December 2016 Samsung security update (SVE-2016-7301) or later. If patching is not possible, avoid using Mobile Hotspot on affected devices and monitor for unauthorized access to the intent data.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-11029 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
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-2016-11029 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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