CVE-2017-18694
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 software through 2016-10-25 (Exynos5 chipsets). Attackers can read kernel addresses in the log because an incorrect format specifier is used. The Samsung ID is SVE-2016-7551 (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 confidenceThis vulnerability in Samsung mobile devices with Exynos5 chipsets allows attackers to read kernel addresses from system logs due to an incorrect format specifier being used in kernel logging code. This information disclosure aids in bypassing ASLR and developing further exploits.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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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Identify Exynos5 chipset presenceCheck /proc/cpuinfo for 'Exynos5' or 'EXYNOS' processor identifier, or use 'cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpuinfo' to inspect hardware detailsAffected if The device does not contain an Exynos5 or Exynos 5 series chipset - this vulnerability only applies to Exynos5 hardware
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Verify Samsung firmwareCheck build information via 'getprop ro.build.fingerprint' or 'getprop ro.product.name' to confirm Samsung firmware is runningAffected if The device is not running Samsung firmware - this flaw exists in Samsung's kernel logging code specifically
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Check kernel versionRun 'uname -r' or read /proc/version to obtain the kernel versionAffected if The kernel version predates the Samsung security patch that corrected the format specifier (no specific version provided - compare to Samsung security bulletins)
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Inspect kernel logs for address leaksRun 'dmesg' or check /proc/kmsg for lines containing kernel memory addresses - look for hex patterns resembling kernel pointers being loggedAffected if Kernel logs contain hexadecimal addresses (such as 0xffffff8000000000 style pointers) that should not be exposed in system logs
A user is affected if they are running Samsung firmware on an Exynos5 chipset device where kernel addresses appear in system logs, indicating the incorrect format specifier is present in the kernel logging code.
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 dataThis issue requires a firmware update from Samsung that corrects the format specifier in the kernel logging code. Organizations should ensure mobile devices receive regular security patches from the device manufacturer.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18694 — 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-2017-18694 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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