CVE-2017-7978
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 · uneditedSamsung Android devices with L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), and N(7.x) software allow attackers to obtain sensitive information by reading a world-readable log file after an unexpected reboot. The Samsung ID is SVE-2017-8290.
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 confidenceSamsung Android devices running L(5.0/5.1), M(6.0), and N(7.x) versions create a world-readable log file that persists after an unexpected reboot, allowing any installed application to read potentially sensitive information from this file without requiring any permissions.
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= 5.0= 5.1= 6.0= 7.0= 7.1= 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 device manufacturer and modelCheck the device settings under 'About phone' > 'Manufacturer' or run 'getprop ro.product.manufacturer' via ADB shellAffected if The manufacturer is not Samsung (this vulnerability only affects Samsung devices)
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Check Android versionGo to 'Settings' > 'About phone' > 'Android version' or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if The Android version is 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 7.0, 7.1, or 7.1.2 (these are the affected versions)
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Check Samsung security patch levelGo to 'Settings' > 'About phone' > 'Security patch level' or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shellAffected if The security patch level is earlier than the SVE-2017-8290 fix (no specific date was provided in the CVE)
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Verify log file permissions (if accessible)Use a file explorer or ADB shell to locate the system log file created during unexpected reboots and check its permissions using 'ls -la <log_file_path>'Affected if The log file exists and has '-rw-rw-rw-' permissions (world-readable, indicating vulnerability)
The device is affected if it is a Samsung Android device running version 5.0, 5.1, 6.0, 7.0, 7.1, or 7.1.2 and the Samsung security patch SVE-2017-8290 has not been applied.
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 modifies the log file permissions to restrict access. Until patched, users should be cautious of allowing untrusted applications to run on affected devices.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-7978 — 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-2017-7978 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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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.
- 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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