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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-25408

HIGH · 7.8 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 →
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
A possible buffer overflow vulnerability in NPU driver prior to SMR JUN-2021 Release 1 allows arbitrary memory write and code execution.

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 confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability in Samsung's NPU (Neural Processing Unit) driver allows an attacker to write to arbitrary memory locations and achieve code execution. This driver-level flaw affects devices running versions prior to the SMR JUN-2021 Release 1 patch.

MitigationApply the SMR JUN-2021 Release 1 or later security update to patch the vulnerable NPU driver. Organizations should inventory affected Samsung devices and ensure timely patch deployment.

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:= 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
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. Confirm Samsung device and Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.product.model' and 'getprop ro.build.version.release' to identify the device model and Android OS version
    Affected if Device is made by Samsung and runs Android 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0
  2. Check security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to view the installed security patch date
    Affected if The patch level is earlier than 2021-06-01 (SMR JUN-2021 Release 1)
  3. Verify NPU driver presence
    Check for the existence of the NPU driver by running 'ls /vendor/lib*/libnp*' or 'ls /system/lib*/libnp*'
    Affected if The NPU driver library files exist on the device

A Samsung device running Android 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 with a security patch level before June 2021 and with the NPU driver present is affected by this vulnerability.

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 the SMR JUN-2021 Release 1 or later security update to patch the vulnerable NPU driver. Organizations should inventory affected Samsung devices and ensure timely patch deployment.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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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-2021-25408 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data