CVE-2018-21041
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 O(8.x) software. Access to Gallery in the Secure Folder can occur without authentication. The Samsung ID is SVE-2018-13057 (December 2018).
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 is an authentication bypass vulnerability in Samsung mobile devices running Android O (8.x). The Secure Folder feature's Gallery application can be accessed without requiring proper authentication, allowing unauthorized users to view sensitive content stored in the secure enclave.
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= 8.0= 8.1CVSS 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:3.1/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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Verify Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if The device is running Android 8.0 or 8.1 (versions 8.x without later patches)
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Confirm device is SamsungCheck the device model in Settings > About Phone > Model number, or run 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADBAffected if The device is a Samsung model (Secure Folder is a Samsung-specific feature)
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Check if Secure Folder is configuredLook for Secure Folder app in the app drawer, or navigate to Settings > Biometrics and security > Secure FolderAffected if Secure Folder is present and configured on the device (the vulnerability only affects devices with Secure Folder enabled)
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Check Samsung security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Software information > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADBAffected if The security patch level is earlier than December 2018 (devices without the SVE-2018-13057 update are vulnerable)
A Samsung device running Android 8.0 or 8.1 with Secure Folder configured and a security patch level before December 2018 is affected by this vulnerability.
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 December 2018 Samsung security update (SVE-2018-13057) to affected devices. Organizations should ensure mobile device management (MDM) policies enforce timely security patches and verify that Secure Folder authentication is functioning correctly after the update.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-21041 — 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-2018-21041 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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