dbcve.org
Samsung MobileOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2016-9967

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-12-16
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
Lack of appropriate exception handling in some receivers of the Telecom application on Samsung Note devices with L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), and N(7.0) software allows attackers to crash the system easily resulting in a possible DoS attack, or possibly gain privileges. The Samsung ID is SVE-2016-7121.

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 confidence

Vulnerability in Samsung's custom Telecom application on Note devices running Android 5.0-7.0 involves improper exception handling in broadcast receivers. Attackers can trigger unhandled exceptions to crash the Telecom service (DoS), and the insufficient error handling may allow privilege escalation through malformed intents targeting these receivers.

MitigationApply Samsung firmware updates addressing SVE-2016-7121; until patched, restrict device access to trusted users and consider MDM policies to reduce attack surface.

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
Samsung MobileOperating system
Affected:= 5.0= 5.1= 6.0= 7.0

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 your device model
    Check the device model number in Settings > About Phone. Confirm it is a Samsung Galaxy Note device.
    Affected if The device is a Samsung Galaxy Note model running the affected Android versions.
  2. Check Android OS version
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version. Verify the installed Android version.
    Affected if Android version is 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, or 7.0.
  3. Verify Samsung Telecom app is installed
    Go to Settings > Apps > All and look for an app named 'Telecom' or 'Telecomm' provided by Samsung.
    Affected if The Samsung Telecom application is present on the device.
  4. Check Samsung firmware security patch level
    In Settings > About Phone > Software info, check the build number or firmware version. Compare against Samsung security updates addressing SVE-2016-7121.
    Affected if The firmware predates the SVE-2016-7121 patch and no subsequent security update has been applied.

If the device is a Samsung Note running Android 5.0-7.0 with the Samsung Telecom app and the firmware lacks the SVE-2016-7121 security update, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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 updates addressing SVE-2016-7121; until patched, restrict device access to trusted users and consider MDM policies to reduce attack surface.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to a Samsung device model that receives ongoing monthly security patches; for affected versions (Android 5.0-7.0), apply the December 2016 or later Samsung security update containing the fix for SVE-2016-7121

  1. 1. Check your current Samsung device model and Android version in Settings > About Phone
  2. 2. Visit the Samsung Security Portal (security.samsungmobile.com) and search for SVE-2016-7121 or CVE-2016-9967
  3. 3. Identify if your specific device model received the security patch addressing this vulnerability
  4. 4. Navigate to Settings > Software Update > Download and Install to check for available updates
  5. 5. If an update is available, ensure the device is connected to Wi-Fi and has sufficient battery (over 50%)
  6. 6. Install the latest Samsung security update available for your device
  7. 7. If no further updates are available for your device model, consider upgrading to a newer device model that continues to receive security support
Caveat Older Samsung devices on Android 5.0-7.0 may no longer receive security updates; upgrading to a newer device or Android version may change UI/behavior

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

Fix this in Samsung Mobile Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,720
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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-2016-9967 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