Galaxy Xcover4 FirmwareOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2019-15439

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 · moderate confidence

The Samsung XCover4 Android device ships with a vulnerable pre-installed app (com.samsung.android.themecenter v7.0.1.0) containing an exported component that allows other pre-installed apps to perform app installation without proper authorization. This constitutes a privilege escalation vulnerability where any pre-installed app with signatureOrSystem permissions can abuse this capability.

MitigationApply vendor security updates from Samsung that patch the themecenter app; until patched, disable or remove the themecenter app via MDM or enterprise mobility controls if the device is managed.

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 is Samsung Galaxy XCover4
    Check device settings under Settings > About Phone > Model Number, or run 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADB
    Affected if Model number is not SM-G390F (Galaxy XCover4)
  2. Identify themecenter app version
    Check app version for com.samsung.android.themecenter via Settings > Apps > Themecenter > Version, or use ADB command 'dumpsys package com.samsung.android.themecenter' to view versionInfo
    Affected if Version is 7.0.1.0 (exact match to vulnerable version)
  3. Verify exported component exists in themecenter
    Extract the themecenter APK and examine AndroidManifest.xml for exported activities/services, or use drozer/adb to enumerate: 'adb shell dumpsys package com.samsung.android.themecenter | grep -i exported'
    Affected if Any exported component (activity, service, or receiver) is present in the themecenter manifest that allows app installation actions
  4. Check for pre-installed apps with signatureOrSystem permissions
    List pre-installed apps and inspect their manifest permissions: 'adb shell pm list packages -s -3' and review signatures using 'dumpsys package <package>' to check for signatureOrSystem permissions
    Affected if Any pre-installed app holds signatureOrSystem permissions and can potentially invoke the exported themecenter component

The environment is affected if running a Samsung Galaxy XCover4 with themecenter app version 7.0.1.0 that contains an exported component callable by other pre-installed apps with signatureOrSystem permissions.

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 security updates from Samsung that patch the themecenter app; until patched, disable or remove the themecenter app via MDM or enterprise mobility controls if the device is managed.

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-2019-15439 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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