CVE-2017-18656
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 M(6.0) and N(7.x) software. There is a buffer over-read in a trustlet. The Samsung ID is SVE-2017-8890 (August 2017).
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 confidenceA buffer over-read vulnerability exists in a trustlet (trusted application running in Samsung's Trusted Execution Environment) on Samsung mobile devices with Android M (6.0) and N (7.x). This memory safety issue could allow reading beyond buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive data processed within the TEE such as cryptographic keys or biometric templates.
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= 6.0= 7.0= 7.1.0= 7.1.1= 7.1.2CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 is a Samsung mobile deviceCheck the device manufacturer and model via Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer or model name. This vulnerability exists specifically in Samsung's TEE trustlet.Affected if Device is not a Samsung brand (the trustlet in question is Samsung-specific)
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Check the Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version. Identify if it matches any of the affected versions: 6.0, 7.0, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, or 7.1.2.Affected if Android version is 6.0, 7.0, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, or 7.1.2 on a Samsung device
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Check the security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. This field shows the date of the applied Android security update.Affected if Security patch level is earlier than August 2017 (the patch SVE-2017-8890 was released in August 2017)
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Verify TEE availability (context only)This is a firmware-level flaw in the TEE trustlet itself. The vulnerability is triggered when the specific trustlet processes data within Samsung's Trusted Execution Environment.Affected if Device is Samsung, runs Android 6.0-7.1.2, and lacks the August 2017 Samsung security update - the TEE trustlet remains unpatched
A Samsung device running Android 6.0 through 7.1.2 with a security patch level before August 2017 is likely affected, as the vulnerable trustlet firmware has not been updated.
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 Samsung security patch released in August 2017 (SVE-2017-8890). Users on affected devices should update to newer Android versions that received the patch, as this is a firmware-level issue requiring Samsung-provided updates.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18656 — 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-2017-18656 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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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.
- 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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