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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 20 Jul 2023.
AndroidOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2021-25395

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild 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
A race condition in MFC charger driver prior to SMR MAY-2021 Release 1 allows local attackers to bypass signature check given a radio privilege is compromised.

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

A race condition vulnerability in Samsung's MFC (Magnetic Fast Charging) charger driver allows local attackers with compromised radio privileges to bypass signature verification checks. This authorization bypass occurs due to timing issues in the driver code prior to the SMR MAY-2021 security update, potentially enabling privilege escalation or malicious driver interaction.

MitigationApply the SMR MAY-2021 Release 1 or later security patch to affected Samsung devices. Organizations should ensure mobile device management (MDM) policies enforce timely security updates, particularly for devices with access to sensitive radio/communication subsystems.

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
AndroidOperating system
Affected:= 8.1= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0

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
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/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 the Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if The version is 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 - these are the affected versions listed in the CVE
  2. Determine the Samsung Security Patch Level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Software information > Build number, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell
    Affected if The patch level is earlier than MAY-2021 (for example, APR-2021 or older). The vulnerability was fixed in SMR MAY-2021 Release 1.
  3. Confirm the MFC charger driver is present
    Check for the MFC driver module by running 'ls /sys/class/power_supply/' and looking for 'mfc' or 'sec_mfc' entries, or check 'getprop | grep mfc' via ADB shell
    Affected if The MFC (Magnetic Fast Charging) driver is present and active on the device, which is required for the race condition to be exploitable
  4. Verify device is a Samsung model
    Run 'getprop ro.product manufacturer' or 'getprop ro.product.brand' via ADB shell, or check Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer
    Affected if The device is made by Samsung. This CVE specifically affects Samsung Android devices with the MFC driver.

A device is affected if it is a Samsung Android device running version 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 with the MFC charger driver present AND the Samsung Security Patch Level is earlier than MAY-2021.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the SMR MAY-2021 Release 1 or later security patch to affected Samsung devices. Organizations should ensure mobile device management (MDM) policies enforce timely security updates, particularly for devices with access to sensitive radio/communication subsystems.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

SMR MAY-2021 Release 1 (May 2021 Security Patch Level)

  1. 1. Check your current Samsung device model and Android version by going to Settings > About Phone
  2. 2. Navigate to Settings > Software Update
  3. 3. Tap on 'Download and Install' to check for available updates
  4. 4. If SMR MAY-2021 Release 1 (or May 2021 Security Patch Level) is available, download and install it
  5. 5. Alternatively, manually check for updates via Samsung's firmware update tools or your carrier's update service
  6. 6. After updating, verify the security patch level shows May 2021 in Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Security patch level

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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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-2021-25395 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data