dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-7990

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-10-31
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
On Samsung Galaxy S4 through S7 devices, an integer overflow condition exists within libomacp.so when parsing OMACP messages (within WAP Push SMS messages) leading to a heap corruption that can result in Denial of Service and potentially remote code execution, a subset of SVE-2016-6542.

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

Integer overflow in libomacp.so when parsing OMACP messages (carried in WAP Push SMS) on Samsung Galaxy S4-S7 devices leads to heap corruption, enabling potential remote code execution via malicious SMS.

MitigationApply Samsung firmware/security updates for affected Galaxy S4-S7 devices; carriers may implement WAP Push SMS filtering at network level to block malicious messages.

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:= 4.2.2= 4.3= 4.3.1= 4.4= 4.4.1= 4.4.2= 4.4.3= 4.4.4= 5.0= 5.0.1= 5.0.2= 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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/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 checks

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

  1. Identify device model
    Check if the device is a Samsung Galaxy S4, S5, S6, or S7 by reviewing the device settings or system information. This vulnerability only affects these specific models.
    Affected if The device is NOT a Samsung Galaxy S4, S5, S6, or S7 (in which case it is not affected).
  2. Check Android version
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell. Compare the version to the affected list: 4.2.2, 4.3, 4.3.1, 4.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2, 4.4.3, 4.4.4, 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.1.
    Affected if The Android version is NOT in the list of affected versions (in which case it is not affected).
  3. Verify libomacp.so presence
    Check if the library exists on the device by running 'find / -name libomacp.so 2>/dev/null' via ADB shell, or inspect the /system/lib or /vendor/lib directories.
    Affected if The libomacp.so library exists and the device meets the model and version criteria above (indicating potential exposure).
  4. Confirm OMACP service is enabled
    Check if OMACP/WAP Push SMS handling is active by reviewing running services with 'dumpsys' via ADB, or checking for OMACP-related entries in /system/etc/permissions or /data/misc/omacl settings.
    Affected if OMACP processing is enabled and the device meets the model and version criteria (indicating the attack surface is present).

The device is affected only if it is a Samsung Galaxy S4-S7 running Android 4.2.2-5.1, with the libomacp.so library present and OMACP/WAP Push SMS processing enabled.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Samsung firmware/security updates for affected Galaxy S4-S7 devices; carriers may implement WAP Push SMS filtering at network level to block malicious messages.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 5.0+ (Lollipop) or later with October 2016 Samsung security patch; ideally migrate to a device with active security support

  1. 1. Check the current Android version on the affected Samsung Galaxy device (S4-S7) by navigating to Settings > About Phone > Android version
  2. 2. Since the affected versions (Android 4.2.2, 4.3, 4.3.1, 4.4) are no longer supported by Google, check if a carrier or Samsung official firmware upgrade is available for your specific device model
  3. 3. If available, apply the latest Samsung firmware update which includes the October 2016 security patch (SVE-2016-6542) that addresses this vulnerability
  4. 4. If no official update is available, consider upgrading to a newer device that receives active security updates
  5. 5. As a temporary mitigation, avoid opening unknown WAP Push SMS messages from untrusted sources
  6. 6. Verify the security patch level after updating: Settings > About Phone > Security patch level should show October 2016 or later
Caveat Old devices may not receive firmware updates beyond Android 4.4/5.0; migrating to a newer device may be required for continued security support

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation40.0 h
  • Testing24.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
80.0 hours of engineering $13,840
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $22,144.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7990 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2016-7990 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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