CVE-2021-25365
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 · uneditedAn improper exception control in softsimd prior to SMR APR-2021 Release 1 allows unprivileged applications to access the API in softsimd.
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 confidenceAn improper exception control vulnerability in softsimd allows unprivileged applications to bypass access controls and directly invoke privileged API functions. This represents an access control bypass stemming from insufficient exception handling that should restrict API access to authorized privileged components.
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= 8.1= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0CVSS 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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Verify Android OS version is affectedCheck the device Android version in Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if The Android version is 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 exactly
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Check if softsimd service existsRun 'dumpsys | grep -i softsimd' or check for the binary at /system/bin/softsimd or /vendor/bin/softsimd via ADB shellAffected if The softsimd service or binary is present on the device
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Identify softsimd versionRun 'dumpsys softsimd' or check the package version via 'pm list packages softsimd' and then 'dumpsys package <packagename>' to get version infoAffected if A version is returned that predates the SMR APR-2021 Release 1 patch
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Verify SELinux context allows unprivileged accessRun 'ls -laZ /system/bin/softsimd' or 'ps -AZ | grep softsimd' via ADB shell to check the SELinux domain; also test by attempting to communicate with the softsimd API from an unprivileged app contextAffected if The softsimd process runs in a permissive domain or the API is accessible without proper privilege checks
The device is affected if it runs Android 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0, contains the softsimd component, and the softsimd version is older than the SMR APR-2021 Release 1 patch.
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 dataUpgrade softsimd to SMR APR-2021 Release 1 or later to obtain the patched version with proper exception control enforcement.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,896.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-25365 — 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-2021-25365 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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