CVE-2019-15448
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 · uneditedThe Samsung S7 Edge Android device with a build fingerprint of samsung/hero2ltexx/hero2lte:8.0.0/R16NW/G935FXXS4ESC3:user/release-keys contains a pre-installed app with a package name of com.samsung.android.themecenter app (versionCode=7000000, versionName=7.0.0.0) 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 confidenceThe Samsung S7 Edge contains a pre-installed themecenter app (com.samsung.android.themecenter) with an exported component that allows other pre-installed apps to perform silent app installation. This bypasses normal Android permission controls since any pre-installed app with signatureOrSystem permissions can exploit this exposed component to install applications without user consent.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify your device modelGo to Settings > About Phone > Model Number, or run `getprop ro.product.model` via ADB shellAffected if The model is Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (SM-G935x)
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Verify the vulnerable themecenter app existsCheck Settings > Apps > Theme Center, or run `pm list packages | grep themecenter` via ADB shellAffected if Package com.samsung.android.themecenter is present on the device
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Confirm the themecenter app is a system appRun `pm list packages -s | grep themecenter` via ADB shell, or check if the app is located in /system/priv-app/Affected if The themecenter app is installed as a pre-installed system app in the system partition
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Audit recently installed applicationsReview installed apps in Settings > Apps > Downloaded, or run `pm list packages -i` via ADB shell to check installer attributionAffected if Any unknown or unauthorized apps appear installed without your explicit consent
You are affected if you are using a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge device with the com.samsung.android.themecenter app present as a pre-installed system component, as the vulnerability allows any pre-installed system app to silently install applications.
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 dataSince this is a pre-installed system app vulnerability requiring firmware-level remediation from Samsung, users should avoid storing sensitive data on affected devices and consider upgrading to a device still receiving security updates. Enterprise environments should deploy MDM solutions to detect unauthorized app installation attempts.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-15448 — 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-2019-15448 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
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