CVE-2017-18659
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 KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), and N(7.x) software. Attackers can crash system processes via a broadcast to AdaptiveDisplayColorService. The Samsung ID is SVE-2017-8290 (July 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 denial of service vulnerability exists in Samsung mobile devices where attackers can send a specially crafted broadcast to the AdaptiveDisplayColorService, causing system processes to crash. The service lacks proper input validation on incoming broadcast intents, allowing malformed data to trigger fatal exceptions.
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= 4.4= 5.0= 5.1= 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
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 modelCheck the device manufacturer and model number in Settings > About Phone or by running 'getprop ro.product.brand' and 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADBAffected if The device is not manufactured by Samsung, as this vulnerability affects only Samsung mobile devices
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Check Android version against affected listNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if The Android version matches 4.4, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 7.0, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, or 7.1.2
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Verify AdaptiveDisplayColorService is presentCheck for the service by examining installed packages using 'pm list packages | grep -i adaptive' or 'dumpsys package com.samsung.android.adaptivecolor' via ADBAffected if The package com.samsung.android.adaptivecolor or AdaptiveDisplayColorService is found on the device
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Confirm broadcast receiver is enabledRun 'dumpsys package com.samsung.android.adaptivecolor' and look for receiver components registered for android.intent.action.BOOT_COMPLETED or general broadcast intentsAffected if The AdaptiveDisplayColorService has an active broadcast receiver component registered
A Samsung device running any of the affected Android versions (4.4 through 7.1.2) with the AdaptiveDisplayColorService and its broadcast receiver present is vulnerable to denial of service via malformed broadcast intents.
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 update (SVE-2017-8290) which adds proper input validation and error handling to the AdaptiveDisplayColorService broadcast receiver to prevent crashes from malformed broadcast intents.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18659 — 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-2017-18659 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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