CVE-2018-21060
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 N(7.x) and O(8.x) software. There is a Keyboard learned words leak in the locked state via the emergency contact picker. The Samsung IDs are SVE-2018-11989, SVE-2018-11990 (September 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 confidenceOn Samsung devices running Android N (7.x) and O (8.x), the keyboard's learned words/predictive text data can be leaked when the device is in a locked state by accessing the emergency contact picker. This allows an attacker with physical access to view personalized dictionary entries and typed words stored by the keyboard app.
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= 7.0= 7.1.0= 7.1.1= 7.1.2= 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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Confirm device manufacturer is SamsungGo to Settings > About phone > Manufacturer or Model. Verify the device is made by Samsung.Affected if Device is not Samsung, the vulnerability does not apply.
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Check Android version is affectedGo to Settings > About phone > Android version. Verify the version matches 7.0, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8.0, or 8.1.Affected if Android version is not one of these specific versions, the device is not in the affected range.
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Verify keyboard predictive text or learned words feature is enabledOpen Samsung keyboard settings (Settings > Language and input > Samsung keyboard > Smart typing). Check if 'Predictive text' or 'Learned words' is turned on.Affected if The keyboard has no learned words or predictive text data stored, the leak has no data to expose.
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Check if September 2018 Samsung security patch is appliedGo to Settings > About phone > Security patch level. Verify the date is September 2018 or later, which includes SVE-2018-11989 or SVE-2018-11990 fixes.Affected if Security patch level is before September 2018, the device is still vulnerable to the keyboard learned words leak via emergency contact picker.
Device is affected if it is a Samsung running Android 7.0-8.1 with keyboard learned words enabled and a security patch level earlier than September 2018.
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 September 2018 Samsung security update (SVE-2018-11989, SVE-2018-11990) which addresses the keyboard learned words leak in the emergency contact picker. Users should ensure their devices are running the latest available Samsung security patch level.
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-21060 — 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-2018-21060 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data