AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2017-18693

CRITICAL · 9.8 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 →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), and N(7.0) software. There is a buffer overflow in the fps sysfs entry. The Samsung ID is SVE-2016-7510 (January 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

Buffer overflow vulnerability in the fps sysfs entry on Samsung mobile devices running Android KK(4.4) through N(7.0). The overflow occurs in a kernel sysfs interface, potentially allowing local privilege escalation or denial of service.

MitigationThis Samsung firmware-level vulnerability requires vendor security updates. Organizations should ensure affected devices receive Samsung patches, implement network segmentation, and restrict physical access to mitigate local exploitation vectors.

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:= 4.4= 5.0= 5.1= 6.0= 7.0

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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. Identify device manufacturer
    Check if the device is a Samsung mobile device by reviewing device settings or system information
    Affected if Device is not a Samsung mobile device (this CVE specifically affects Samsung devices)
  2. Check Android version
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' in a shell
    Affected if Android version is NOT 4.4, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, or 7.0 (only these specific versions are affected)
  3. Locate fps sysfs entry
    List contents of /sys/class/graphics/ directory to find fps-related entries, typically under fb0/fps
    Affected if The fps sysfs entry does not exist on the device (vulnerability only applies when this interface is present)
  4. Verify kernel sysfs write access
    Check file permissions on the fps entry using 'ls -la /sys/class/graphics/fb0/fps' if it exists
    Affected if The fps entry is world-writable or group-writable without appropriate restrictions

A device is affected if it is a Samsung mobile device running Android 4.4, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, or 7.0 with a writable fps sysfs interface present in the kernel.

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

This Samsung firmware-level vulnerability requires vendor security updates. Organizations should ensure affected devices receive Samsung patches, implement network segmentation, and restrict physical access to mitigate local exploitation vectors.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,900
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18693 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-18693 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