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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2017-18657

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
An issue was discovered on Samsung mobile devices with M(6.0) and N(7.x) software. There is an arbitrary write in a trustlet. The Samsung ID is SVE-2017-8893 (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 confidence

Arbitrary write vulnerability in a trustlet (Trusted Execution Environment component) on Samsung mobile devices running Android M (6.0) and N (7.x), allowing an attacker to write to arbitrary memory locations.

MitigationApply Samsung manufacturer firmware updates; this is a firmware-level issue requiring vendor patch deployment.

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:= 6.0= 7.0= 7.1.0= 7.1.1= 7.1.2

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
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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 checks

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

  1. Confirm device is a Samsung mobile phone
    Check the device manufacturer. On Android, navigate to Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer, or run the command: getprop ro.product.manufacturer
    Affected if The device is NOT a Samsung mobile device - this vulnerability specifically targets Samsung devices
  2. Check Android OS version
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run: getprop ro.build.version.release
    Affected if The version is exactly 6.0, 7.0, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, or 7.1.2 (the affected versions listed)
  3. Verify Trusted Execution Environment is present
    Check if the device has a TEE by reviewing /proc/tee/info or examining boot logs for TEE-related components. This vulnerability exists in a trustlet running within the TEE.
    Affected if A TEE is present and contains the vulnerable trustlet component

A Samsung mobile device running Android 6.0, 7.0, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, or 7.1.2 with an active TEE is likely affected by this trustlet arbitrary write 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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Samsung manufacturer firmware updates; this is a firmware-level issue requiring vendor patch deployment.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2017-18657 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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