CVE-2017-18666
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. Applications can send arbitrary premium SMS messages. The Samsung ID is SVE-2017-8701 (June 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 · high confidenceApplications on Samsung mobile devices with KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), and N(7.x) software can send arbitrary premium SMS messages without proper authorization, allowing attackers to incur charges to the user's phone bill.
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
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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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Verify Android version is affectedGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version. Confirm the version matches 4.4, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 7.0, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, or 7.1.2.Affected if The installed Android version exactly matches one of the listed affected versions.
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Confirm device is a Samsung modelGo to Settings > About Phone > Model number. Check that the manufacturer is Samsung.Affected if The device is a Samsung mobile device running the affected Android versions.
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Review apps with SMS permissionsGo to Settings > Apps > Permissions > SMS. List all applications granted SMS permission. These apps can send SMS including premium-rate messages.Affected if Any application with SMS permission exists on the device and the Android version is in the affected list.
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Check for premium SMS in message logsOpen default Messages app > Look for sent messages to short numbers (typically 4-5 digits) which often indicate premium services. Compare against your usage history.Affected if Unknown or unauthorized premium SMS messages (to short numbers) appear in the sent log.
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Review phone bill for premium SMS chargesCheck monthly billing statements or contact your carrier for itemized SMS usage, specifically looking for messages to premium-rate numbers.Affected if Charges for SMS to premium-rate numbers appear that you did not intentionally send.
The device is affected if it is a Samsung device running Android 4.4 through 7.1.2 and has applications with SMS permission that could send premium messages without user confirmation.
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 dataSamsung should implement proper authorization checks requiring explicit user confirmation before allowing applications to send premium-rate SMS messages, and users should carefully review app permissions.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18666 — 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-2017-18666 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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