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Galaxy Xcover4 FirmwareOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2019-15437

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-14
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 Samsung XCover4 Android device with a build fingerprint of samsung/xcover4ltexx/xcover4lte:8.1.0/M1AJQ/G390FXXU3BSA2:user/release-keys contains a pre-installed app with a package name of com.samsung.android.themecenter app (versionCode=7000100, versionName=7.0.1.0) that allows other pre-installed apps to perform app installation via an accessible app component. This capability can be accessed by any pre-installed app on the device which can obtain signatureOrSystem permissions that are required by other other pre-installed apps that exported their capabilities to other pre-installed app.

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

The Samsung XCover4 Android device contains a pre-installed themecenter app (com.samsung.android.themecenter) that exposes an accessible exported component allowing other pre-installed apps to perform app installation without user interaction. This bypasses Android's normal app installation permission controls by leveraging signatureOrSystem permissions that pre-installed apps can obtain.

MitigationApply available Samsung firmware updates for the XCover4 device. Until patched, organizations should restrict app sideloading via MDM policies and monitor for suspicious app installation activity on affected devices.

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
Galaxy Xcover4 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:3.1/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 if the device is a Samsung Galaxy XCover4 by running 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADB or checking Settings > About phone > Model number
    Affected if Device model is Samsung Galaxy XCover4 (any firmware version)
  2. Verify themecenter app is present
    Check for the package com.samsung.android.themecenter using 'adb shell pm list packages | grep themecenter' or via device management software
    Affected if The package com.samsung.android.themecenter is installed on the device
  3. Check if exported component is accessible
    Use 'adb shell dumpsys package com.samsung.android.themecenter' and look for exported activities or services with permission levels that indicate signatureOrSystem access
    Affected if The themecenter app exposes an exported component that accepts requests from other privileged apps
  4. Monitor for unauthorized app installations
    Review device logs or MDM logs for app installation events where PackageInstallerSession was initiated without user interaction (check for installs lacking android.permission.INSTALL_PACKAGES user action flags)
    Affected if Apps appear installed on the device without user-initiated installation prompts

If the device is a Samsung Galaxy XCover4 with the themecenter app present and an exported component accessible to privileged apps, the device is affected and could allow silent app installation by other pre-installed apps.

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

Apply available Samsung firmware updates for the XCover4 device. Until patched, organizations should restrict app sideloading via MDM policies and monitor for suspicious app installation activity on affected devices.

Fix this in Galaxy Xcover4 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,610
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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-2019-15437 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
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