dbcve.org
Galaxy S8 FirmwareOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2018-14318

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-09-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on vulnerable installations of Samsung Galaxy S8 G950FXXU1AQL5. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must have their cellular radios enabled. The specific flaw exists within the handling of IPCP headers. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of the length of user-supplied data prior to copying it to a fixed-length, stack-based buffer. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code under the context of the baseband processor. Was ZDI-CAN-5368.

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 confidence

Stack-based buffer overflow in Samsung Galaxy S8 baseband processor's IPCP (Internet Protocol Control Protocol) header handling. The vulnerability results from missing length validation before copying user-supplied data to a fixed-size stack buffer, allowing arbitrary code execution in the baseband processor context.

MitigationApply Samsung security updates that patch the baseband processor firmware. Until the vendor patch is available, users should minimize exposure by disabling cellular data when not needed.

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
Galaxy S8 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= g950fxxu1aql5

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Confirm device model is Samsung Galaxy S8
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Model Number, or check the physical device labeling. The model must be g950f (or variant like g950F, SM-G950F).
    Affected if The device is not a Samsung Galaxy S8 (model g950f or SM-G950F), then it is not affected by this specific baseband vulnerability.
  2. Check baseband processor firmware version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Baseband version. Record the exact version string displayed.
    Affected if The baseband version is exactly g950fxxu1aql5. Only this exact version is listed as affected. If the version differs (newer or older), it may not be this specific vulnerable build.
  3. Verify IPCP is used in the environment
    This vulnerability is in IPCP (Internet Protocol Control Protocol) handling within the baseband processor. IPCP is used during PPP connections for cellular data. The flaw requires the baseband to process IPCP headers from the cellular network.
    Affected if IPCP processing is handled by the baseband processor. If the device uses cellular data services (PPP-based connections), the baseband processes IPCP headers. Devices without cellular capability or using non-PPP data paths may not exercise this code path.
  4. Confirm cellular radio is active
    Check if the device has cellular service enabled. Go to Settings > Network & Internet > SIM cards, or observe the signal bars in the status bar.
    Affected if The baseband processor must be actively processing cellular protocol stacks (including IPCP) for exploitation. If cellular radio is completely disabled (airplane mode with cellular off, or no SIM), the vulnerable code path is not engaged.

A Samsung Galaxy S8 (model g950f) running baseband firmware version exactly g950fxxu1aql5 with cellular service enabled is affected by this IPCP buffer overflow in the baseband processor.

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

Apply Samsung security updates that patch the baseband processor firmware. Until the vendor patch is available, users should minimize exposure by disabling cellular data when not needed.

Fix this in Galaxy S8 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,360
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,776.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-14318 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2018-14318 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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