CVE-2017-16835
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 · uneditedThe "Photo,Video Locker-Calculator" application 12.0 for Android has android:allowBackup="true" in AndroidManifest.xml, which allows attackers to obtain sensitive cleartext information via an "adb backup '-f smart.calculator.gallerylock'" command.
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 confidenceThe Photo,Video Locker-Calculator app 12.0 for Android has android:allowBackup="true" set in its AndroidManifest.xml. This setting allows Android's backup mechanism to package and export the application's private data directory. An attacker with physical access to a rooted device or adb access can use 'adb backup -f smart.calculator.gallerylock' to create an unencrypted backup of the app's data, potentially exposing sensitive information that should remain private.
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= 12.0CVSS 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:3.0/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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Identify if the vulnerable app is installedRun 'pm list packages | grep -i calculator' or 'pm list packages | grep -i gallerylock' via adb to list installed packages that match the app nameAffected if The package name for Photo,Video Locker-Calculator version 12.0 appears in the package list
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Verify the installed versionRun 'dumpsys package <package_name>' and check the versionName or versionCode field, or view the app version in Android Settings under AppsAffected if The installed version is exactly 12.0
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Locate and extract the APKFind the APK path using 'pm path <package_name>' then pull the APK: 'adb pull <apk_path> local_path.apk'Affected if The APK file is successfully retrieved from the device
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Inspect AndroidManifest.xml for allowBackup settingUse 'aapt dump badging local_path.apk' or extract and inspect AndroidManifest.xml using apktool, then search for 'android:allowBackup'Affected if The AndroidManifest.xml shows android:allowBackup="true" or the allowBackup flag is not explicitly set to false (defaults to true)
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Test backup functionalityRun 'adb backup -f test.ab -apk <package_name>' and check if a backup file is created without requiring encryption or passwordAffected if The adb backup command succeeds and creates a backup file containing the app's data directory
A user is affected if they have Photo,Video Locker-Calculator version 12.0 installed AND the app's AndroidManifest.xml has android:allowBackup set to true or unset (defaulting to true), allowing unencrypted backups of private data.
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 dataSet android:allowBackup="false" in the AndroidManifest.xml to disable the Android backup mechanism and prevent unauthorized extraction of application data.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16835 — 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-2017-16835 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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