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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-25449

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
An improper input validation vulnerability in libsapeextractor library prior to SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in mediaextractor process.

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

An improper input validation vulnerability in the libsapextractor library (a media extraction component in Samsung mobile devices) prior to SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 allows attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution within the mediaextractor process. This is a critical-severity input validation failure that can be exploited to inject and execute malicious code.

MitigationApply the Samsung SMR (Security Maintenance Release) September 2021 or later via standard system update mechanism to incorporate the patched libsapextractor library.

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Verify Android version is affected
    Check the device settings under Settings > About Phone > Android version. Confirm if the version matches exactly 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0.
    Affected if The Android version is exactly 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0
  2. Confirm device is Samsung brand
    Verify the device manufacturer is Samsung. This vulnerability exists in the Samsung-specific libsapextractor library which is not present on non-Samsung Android devices.
    Affected if The device is not a Samsung device (the vulnerable library is Samsung-specific)
  3. Check libsapextractor library presence
    On the device, use a file explorer or ADB to locate the libsapextractor library in system or vendor partitions. The library is typically found in /system/lib/ or /vendor/lib/ with filename containing sapextractor.
    Affected if The libsapextractor library exists on the device, indicating the vulnerable component is present
  4. Verify mediaextractor process usage
    Monitor or inspect running processes on the device to confirm the mediaextractor process is active. This process invokes the vulnerable libsapextractor library for media extraction operations.
    Affected if The mediaextractor process is running and utilizing the libsapextractor library

A device is affected if it is a Samsung device running Android 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 with the libsapextractor library present and actively used by the mediaextractor process.

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 Samsung SMR (Security Maintenance Release) September 2021 or later via standard system update mechanism to incorporate the patched libsapextractor library.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 (Security Maintenance Release)

  1. Identify your specific Samsung device model number (found in Settings > About phone)
  2. Go to Settings > Software update and check for the latest available update
  3. Ensure the device receives the SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 security patch or later
  4. Verify the patch was applied by checking Settings > About phone > Software information > Security patch level
Caveat None expected - this is a security patch update

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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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-2021-25449 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