CVE-2019-14757
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 in KaiOS 2.5 and 2.5.1. The pre-installed Contacts application is vulnerable to HTML and JavaScript injection attacks. An attacker can send a vCard file to the victim that will inject HTML into the Contacts application (assuming the victim chooses to import the file). At a bare minimum, this allows an attacker to take control over the Contacts application's UI (e.g., display a malicious prompt to the user asking them to re-enter credentials such as their KaiOS credentials to continue using the application) and also allows an attacker to abuse any of the privileges available to the mobile application.
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 confidenceThe pre-installed Contacts application in KaiOS 2.5 and 2.5.1 lacks proper input sanitization when parsing vCard files, allowing HTML and JavaScript injection. An attacker can craft a malicious vCard that, when imported by the victim, executes arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the Contacts application, enabling UI manipulation and privilege abuse.
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= 2.5= 2.5.1CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 KaiOS versionNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Software Information on the KaiOS device and identify the OS version numberAffected if The device is running KaiOS version 2.5 or 2.5.1 specifically
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Verify Contacts application is presentLocate the Contacts app icon on the KaiOS home screen or app drawer - it is a pre-installed default applicationAffected if The Contacts application is installed and accessible on the device (default state for affected versions)
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Check for vCard import capabilityOpen the Contacts app, look for an import function or menu option (typically under Settings or a menu button) that allows importing .vcf vCard filesAffected if The vCard import feature is available in the Contacts application (default feature in affected versions)
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Inspect recently imported contacts for anomaliesOpen the Contacts app and review all contact entries for unexpected content such as script tags, javascript: URLs, or HTML markup in name, organization, or address fieldsAffected if Any contact entry contains executable code, HTML tags, or suspicious scripts that were not manually entered by the user
The device is affected if it runs KaiOS 2.5 or 2.5.1 and has the Contacts app with vCard import enabled; evidence of exploitation would appear as malicious code injected into contact fields.
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 dataKaiOS should release a firmware update that patches the Contacts application to properly sanitize and validate all data from imported vCard files before rendering, using context-aware output encoding and CSP headers.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-14757 — 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-2019-14757 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