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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-25456

MEDIUM · 5.5 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 →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
OOB read vulnerability in libswmfextractor.so library prior to SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 allows attackers to execute memcpy at arbitrary address via forged wmf file.

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

Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Samsung's libswmfextractor.so library allows attackers to execute memcpy at an arbitrary memory address via a specially crafted WMF (Windows Metafile) file. This memory corruption flaw could potentially enable arbitrary code execution on affected Samsung devices running Android versions prior to the September 2021 security patch.

MitigationUpdate Samsung device firmware to SMR (Samsung Maintenance Release) September 2021 Patch Level 1 or later, which includes the patched libswmfextractor.so 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

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 device is a Samsung product
    Run 'getprop ro.product.brand' or 'getprop ro.manufacturer' and confirm the output indicates Samsung
    Affected if The brand or manufacturer is not Samsung (this CVE targets Samsung-specific library)
  2. Confirm Android version is affected
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' and check if the version equals 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0
    Affected if Android version is 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 (versions outside this range are not affected)
  3. Check the security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to retrieve the installed patch date
    Affected if Patch level is before September 2021 (e.g., August 2021, July 2021, or earlier); devices on September 2021 SMR Patch Level 1 or later are patched
  4. Verify vulnerable library exists
    Check for libswmfextractor.so in /system/lib/ or /vendor/lib/ directories using 'find / -name libswmfextractor.so 2>/dev/null'
    Affected if The library file exists on the device (the flaw exists in this specific Samsung library)
  5. Confirm WMF processing capability is present
    Check if apps with media/explicit intent handling or Samsung's media framework can load libswmfextractor.so by inspecting loaded libraries via 'cat /proc/<pid>/maps' for any process using the library
    Affected if The library is loaded or loadable by any application on the device (WMF file processing would trigger the vulnerable code path)

A Samsung device is affected if it runs Android 8.1-11.0, has a security patch level before September 2021, and contains the libswmfextractor.so library that can process WMF files.

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

Update Samsung device firmware to SMR (Samsung Maintenance Release) September 2021 Patch Level 1 or later, which includes the patched libswmfextractor.so library.

Recommended fix High confidence

SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 (September 2021 Security Patch Level)

  1. Check the current Android security patch level on the device in Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Security patch level
  2. Verify if the device has received the SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 security update (September 2021 security patch level)
  3. If not updated, check for system software updates in Settings > Software Update and download/install the latest available update
  4. After updating, verify the security patch level reflects September 2021 or later
Caveat Standard Android security update risks apply - ensure backups of important data before applying updates

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-25456 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