CVE-2019-15455
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 J5 Android device with a build fingerprint of samsung/j5y17ltexx/j5y17lte:8.1.0/M1AJQ/J530FXXU3BRL1: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 confidenceThe Samsung J5 Android device contains a pre-installed themecenter app (com.samsung.android.themecenter, v7.0.1.0) with an exposed component that permits app installation. This component is accessible to other pre-installed apps holding signatureOrSystem permissions, allowing a malicious pre-installed app to install arbitrary 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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Confirm device model is Samsung Galaxy J5Check the device model number in Settings > About Phone > Model Number, or run: getprop ro.product.modelAffected if The device model is Samsung Galaxy J5 (SM-J500x)
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Verify themecenter app is installedCheck for package com.samsung.android.themecenter using a package manager query: pm list packages | grep themecenter, or check in Settings > Apps > ThemecenterAffected if The package com.samsung.android.themecenter is present on the device
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Check themecenter app versionQuery the package version: pm dump com.samsung.android.themecenter | grep versionName, or check in Settings > Apps > Themecenter > VersionAffected if Version is 7.0.1.0 (or any version of this vulnerable app)
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Identify apps with signatureOrSystem permissionsAnalyze installed apps for those holding signatureOrSystem permissions that could access the exposed component: adb shell pm list permissions -g | grep signatureOrSystem, or use a security audit toolAffected if Multiple pre-installed apps hold signatureOrSystem permissions, creating potential exploit pathways
If the device is a Samsung Galaxy J5 with the themecenter app (v7.0.1.0) installed and other pre-installed apps have signatureOrSystem permissions, the device is vulnerable to unauthorized app installation.
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 dataThis vulnerability requires a firmware update from Samsung to patch the themecenter app or disable its exposed component. Enterprise organizations may mitigate through mobile device management policies or by restricting installation of untrusted apps.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-15455 — 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-2019-15455 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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