CVE-2021-25458
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 · uneditedNULL pointer dereference vulnerability in ION driver prior to SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 allows attackers to cause memory corruption.
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 confidenceA NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the ION memory manager driver. The issue allows attackers to cause memory corruption by dereferencing a NULL pointer, likely due to a missing validation check before pointer usage in the driver's memory handling routines.
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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Identify Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if The version is 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 exactly (not a later version with the patch)
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Check kernel versionRun 'uname -r' via ADB or check /proc/versionAffected if Kernel version predates the Sep-2021 security patch set
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Verify ION driver presenceCheck for ION kernel module by running 'ls -la /dev/ion' or looking for 'ion' in /proc/modules'Affected if The ION memory manager driver is loaded and active on the device
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Confirm security patch levelRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB to check the installed SMR (Security Maintenance Release) versionAffected if The security patch level is earlier than Sep-2021 or the SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 is not installed
A device is affected if it runs Android 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 with the ION driver loaded and has a security patch level earlier than the Sep-2021 update.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply the SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 security update which patches the NULL pointer dereference in the ION driver. If patches are unavailable, implement input validation and NULL pointer checks in all driver entry points that handle memory allocations.
SMR Sep-2021 Release 1 or later
- Check for system updates on the Samsung device: Go to Settings > Software update > Download and install
- Alternatively, navigate to Settings > Software update > Download updates manually
- Ensure the device updates to the September 2021 security patch level (SMR Sep-2021 Release 1) or later
- Verify the installed security patch level in Settings > About phone > Software information > Security patch level
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,392.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-25458 — 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-2021-25458 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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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.
- 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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