dbcve.org
Galaxy J7 Neo FirmwareOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2019-15459

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 J7 Neo Android device with a build fingerprint of samsung/j7velteub/j7velte:8.1.0/M1AJQ/J701MUBS6BSB3: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 J7 Neo Android device contains a pre-installed Theme Center app (com.samsung.android.themecenter v7.0.1.0) with an exposed component that allows other pre-installed apps with signatureOrSystem permissions to perform unrestricted app installation. This represents a privilege escalation vulnerability where malicious pre-installed apps can bypass Android's normal app installation controls to install arbitrary applications.

MitigationSince this is a pre-installed system app vulnerability specific to the Samsung J7 Neo, remediation requires either Samsung releasing a firmware/security patch or workarounds such as disabling/removing the vulnerable theme center app through device administration or rooting the device to remove the malicious capability.

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 J7 Neo 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 your device model
    Check if the device is a Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo by going to Settings > About Phone > Model Number, or run 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADB shell
    Affected if Model number shows SM-J700F, SM-J700H, SM-J700P, or variants labeled as J7 Neo
  2. Verify Theme Center app is present
    Check if com.samsung.android.themecenter is installed by listing installed packages via 'pm list packages | grep themecenter' in ADB shell, or view in Settings > Apps
    Affected if Package com.samsung.android.themecenter appears in the installed packages list
  3. Check Theme Center app version
    Run 'dumpsys package com.samsung.android.themecenter | grep versionName' via ADB shell, or check in Settings > Apps > Theme Center > App info
    Affected if Version shows as v7.0.1.0 (or any version since all firmware versions are affected)
  4. Confirm vulnerable component exposure
    Analyze the app manifest using 'pm dump com.samsung.android.themecenter' and look for exported activities or services related to app installation functionality
    Affected if Exported component (activity/service) that handles app installation is present and accessible to other signatureOrSystem apps

You are affected if you are using a Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo device with the Theme Center app (com.samsung.android.themecenter) installed, as all firmware versions contain the vulnerable pre-installed app with an exposed installation component.

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

Since this is a pre-installed system app vulnerability specific to the Samsung J7 Neo, remediation requires either Samsung releasing a firmware/security patch or workarounds such as disabling/removing the vulnerable theme center app through device administration or rooting the device to remove the malicious capability.

Fix this in Galaxy J7 Neo Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2019-15459 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
  • 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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