dbcve.org
Galaxy Xcover4 FirmwareOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2019-15438

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/xcover4ltedo/xcover4lte:8.1.0/M1AJQ/G390YDXU2BSA1: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 · high confidence

The Samsung XCover4 Android device ships with a pre-installed themecenter app (com.samsung.android.themecenter v7.0.1.0) that exposes an exported component enabling silent app installation. This component can be invoked by any pre-installed app holding signatureOrSystem permissions, allowing unauthorized app installation without user consent - a privilege escalation vulnerability.

MitigationApply vendor firmware updates from Samsung that patch the vulnerable themecenter app; otherwise, treat all pre-installed apps as untrusted and monitor for suspicious app installation activity.

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. Confirm device model
    Check if the device is a Samsung Galaxy XCover4 by reviewing the device settings under 'About phone' or using 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADB
    Affected if Device is not a Samsung Galaxy XCover4 - the vulnerability is specific to this model
  2. Locate the themecenter app
    Check if com.samsung.android.themecenter is installed by listing installed packages via 'adb shell pm list packages | grep themecenter' or using a package manager app
    Affected if The themecenter app is not present - the vulnerability does not exist in this environment
  3. Verify themecenter version
    Get the version of the themecenter app using 'adb shell dumpsys package com.samsung.android.themecenter | grep versionName'
    Affected if Version is 7.0.1.0 (exact match to the vulnerable version) or if the component is exported in the manifest
  4. Check for exported component
    Decompile the themecenter APK and examine AndroidManifest.xml for an exported Activity or Service that handles app installation, or use 'adb shell dumpsys package com.samsung.android.themecenter' to list components
    Affected if An exported component capable of installing apps is present and accessible
  5. Audit signatureOrSystem permission holders
    List all apps holding signatureOrSystem permissions using 'adb shell pm list permissions -g | grep -A 5 signatureOrSystem' and cross-reference with installed apps
    Affected if Any pre-installed app (not user-installed) holds signatureOrSystem permissions and could invoke the vulnerable component
  6. Review app installation logs
    Check logcat or package manager logs for app installations initiated by the themecenter or other pre-installed apps without user interaction: 'adb logcat -d | grep -i "install"'
    Affected if Apps were installed silently by pre-installed apps without user consent or awareness

You are affected if you are using a Samsung Galaxy XCover4 with the themecenter app (com.samsung.android.themecenter v7.0.1.0) present, which has an exported component that can be called by other pre-installed apps with signatureOrSystem permissions to install apps without user consent.

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 vendor firmware updates from Samsung that patch the vulnerable themecenter app; otherwise, treat all pre-installed apps as untrusted and monitor for suspicious app installation activity.

Fix this in Galaxy Xcover4 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,660
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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-2019-15438 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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