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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2018-21087

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
An issue was discovered on Samsung mobile devices with L(5.x), M(6.x), and N(7.x) software. There is a vnswap heap-based buffer overflow via the store function, with resultant privilege escalation. The Samsung ID is SVE-2017-10599 (January 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 confidence

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the vnswap component on Samsung mobile devices running Android L (5.x), M (6.x), and N (7.x) versions. The overflow occurs through the store function and can be exploited to achieve privilege escalation.

MitigationApply the Samsung security patch for SVE-2017-10599 via official Samsung firmware update to address the kernel-level heap overflow in vnswap.

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
AndroidOperating system
Affected:= 5.0= 5.0.1= 5.0.2= 5.1= 5.1.0= 5.1.1= 6.0= 6.0.1= 7.0= 7.1.0= 7.1.1= 7.1.2

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Confirm device manufacturer is Samsung
    Check the device manufacturer by running 'getprop ro.product.manufacturer' or 'getprop ro.brand' in a shell
    Affected if The manufacturer is not Samsung (this vulnerability affects Samsung devices only)
  2. Check Android version matches affected list
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' to obtain the Android version
    Affected if The version is 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.1, 5.1.0, 5.1.1, 6.0, 6.0.1, 7.0, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, or 7.1.2 (versions outside this range are not affected)
  3. Verify vnswap kernel module is present
    Check for vnswap by running 'ls /sys/block/' to list block devices and look for vnswap, or run 'lsmod | grep vnswap' to list loaded kernel modules
    Affected if vnswap is present or loaded (the vulnerability exists in this component)
  4. Confirm Samsung firmware has not been patched
    Check the Samsung security patch level by running 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' and compare against the SVE-2017-10599 patch date
    Affected if The security patch level is older than the SVE-2017-10599 fix or the field is empty

A user is affected if they have a Samsung device running Android 5.0 through 7.1.2 with the vnswap component present and an unpatched firmware lacking the SVE-2017-10599 security update.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Samsung security patch for SVE-2017-10599 via official Samsung firmware update to address the kernel-level heap overflow in vnswap.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest Samsung security patch level containing SVE-2017-10599 (check security.samsungmobile.com for your specific model)

  1. Check your Samsung device model and current Android/security patch level via Settings > About phone
  2. Visit the Samsung Security Portal at security.samsungmobile.com and locate SVE-2017-10599
  3. Identify the specific security patch date that contains the fix for this vulnerability
  4. Upgrade your device to the latest available Samsung security update that includes the SVE-2017-10599 fix
  5. If your device is no longer receiving security updates, consider upgrading to a newer Samsung device that maintains software support
Caveat Older devices on Android 5.x may not receive further security updates and may need hardware replacement

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,970
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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-2018-21087 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data