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Galaxy J7 Neo FirmwareOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2019-15461

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/J701MUBS6BSB4: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 themecenter app (com.samsung.android.themecenter v7.0.1.0) with an exported component that allows other pre-installed apps to perform app installation. Any pre-installed app holding signatureOrSystem permissions can abuse this exposed component to install additional applications without user consent, representing a privilege escalation from one pre-installed app to another.

MitigationApply vendor firmware updates when available. If no update is forthcoming, enterprise mitigation involves MDM policies to disable or restrict the vulnerable themecenter app, or device replacement if the vendor does not provide a patch.

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 device model
    Check if the device is Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo. On the device, go to Settings > About Phone > Model Number, or run: `getprop ro.product.model` via ADB shell
    Affected if Device model is SM-J701F or SM-J701M (Galaxy J7 Neo)
  2. Confirm themecenter app is present
    Check if com.samsung.android.themecenter is installed. Run via ADB: `pm list packages | grep themecenter` or `dumpsys package com.samsung.android.themecenter`
    Affected if Package com.samsung.android.themecenter exists on the device
  3. Verify themecenter version
    Check the installed version of the themecenter app. Run: `dumpsys package com.samsung.android.themecenter | grep versionName` via ADB
    Affected if Version is 7.0.1.0 (the affected version)
  4. Check for exported activity component
    Inspect if the themecenter app has exported components. Run: `dumpsys package com.samsung.android.themecenter` and look for android:exported="true" entries, particularly for activity components that handle app installation
    Affected if Any activity or component with android:exported="true" is present in the themecenter manifest
  5. Identify pre-installed apps with signatureOrSystem permissions
    List apps with signatureOrSystem permissions that could exploit this: `dumpsys package | grep -A5 "android.permission.SIGNATURE_OR_SYSTEM"` or check which pre-installed apps hold elevated privileges
    Affected if Any pre-installed app (non-user-installed) holds signatureOrSystem permissions and can invoke the exported component

If the device is a Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo with the themecenter app (v7.0.1.0) present and has exported components accessible to signatureOrSystem apps, the device is vulnerable to unauthorized app installation by pre-installed apps.

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 when available. If no update is forthcoming, enterprise mitigation involves MDM policies to disable or restrict the vulnerable themecenter app, or device replacement if the vendor does not provide a patch.

Fix this in Galaxy J7 Neo Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2019-15461 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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