dbcve.org
Zenfone V Live FirmwareOperating system · Asus

CVE-2018-14993

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-04-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
The ASUS Zenfone V Live Android device with a build fingerprint of asus/VZW_ASUS_A009/ASUS_A009:7.1.1/NMF26F/14.0610.1802.78-20180313:user/release-keys and the Asus ZenFone 3 Max Android device with a build fingerprint of asus/US_Phone/ASUS_X008_1:7.0/NRD90M/US_Phone-14.14.1711.92-20171208:user/release-keys both contain a pre-installed platform app with a package name of com.asus.splendidcommandagent (versionCode=1510200090, versionName=1.2.0.18_160928) that contains an exported service named com.asus.splendidcommandagent.SplendidCommandAgentService that allows any app co-located on the device to supply arbitrary commands to be executed as the system user. This app cannot be disabled by the user and the attack can be performed by a zero-permission app. Executing commands as system user can allow a third-party app to video record the user's screen, factory reset the device, obtain the user's notifications, read the logcat logs, inject events in the Graphical User Interface (GUI), change the default Input Method Editor (IME) (e.g., keyboard) with one contained within the attacking app that contains keylogging functionality, obtain the user's text messages, and more.

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

The ASUS Splendid Command Agent app (com.asus.splendidcommandagent) contains an exported service (SplendidCommandAgentService) that accepts arbitrary commands and executes them as the system user. This allows any local application, even one with zero Android permissions, to gain system-level code execution, enabling screen recording, notification theft, logcat access, GUI injection, IME replacement with keyloggers, and SMS exfiltration.

MitigationUsers cannot directly remediate this vulnerability as the app is pre-installed and cannot be disabled. Organizations should identify affected Zenfone devices in their fleet and await an official ASUS firmware update that either removes the vulnerable app or adds proper permission validation to the exported service.

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
Zenfone V Live FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Zenfone 3 Max FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 model
    Check the device model in Settings > About Phone (or via 'getprop ro.product.model' command). Look for 'Zenfone V Live' or 'Zenfone 3 Max'.
    Affected if Device model is Asus Zenfone V Live or Asus Zenfone 3 Max
  2. Check if vulnerable app is installed
    List installed packages and search for 'com.asus.splendidcommandagent' using 'pm list packages | grep asus.splendid' or a package manager app.
    Affected if The package com.asus.splendidcommandagent is installed on the device
  3. Verify the exported service exists
    Use 'dumpsys package com.asus.splendidcommandagent' or an app like Package Manager to inspect the service component and confirm SplendidCommandAgentService is declared as exported.
    Affected if The SplendidCommandAgentService component is exported and accessible to other apps
  4. Confirm system-level execution context
    Inspect the app's manifest or use 'dumpsys package com.asus.splendidcommandagent' to check the requested permissions and installed APK's signing level.
    Affected if The app runs with system-level privileges and any installed app can send commands to the service

If the device is a Zenfone V Live or Zenfone 3 Max with the com.asus.splendidcommandagent app present and its SplendidCommandAgentService exported, the device is affected by this privilege escalation vulnerability.

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

Users cannot directly remediate this vulnerability as the app is pre-installed and cannot be disabled. Organizations should identify affected Zenfone devices in their fleet and await an official ASUS firmware update that either removes the vulnerable app or adds proper permission validation to the exported service.

Fix this in Zenfone V Live Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2018-14993 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
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