dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-25467

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-10-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Assuming system privilege is gained, possible buffer overflow vulnerabilities in the Vision DSP kernel driver prior to SMR Oct-2021 Release 1 allows privilege escalation to Root by hijacking loaded library.

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

Buffer overflow vulnerability in the Vision DSP kernel driver allows a local attacker with system-level privileges to escalate to root by hijacking loaded libraries. This is a kernel-level privilege escalation affecting Samsung devices running the vulnerable driver version prior to the October 2021 security maintenance release.

MitigationApply the SMR Oct-2021 Release 1 or later vendor firmware update which contains the patched Vision DSP kernel driver to address the buffer overflow vulnerability.

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:= 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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.sdk' via ADB
    Affected if Android version is 11.0 (SDK 30)
  2. Confirm device is Samsung
    Run 'getprop ro.product.brand' via ADB or check Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer
    Affected if Device brand is Samsung (the vulnerability affects Samsung's Vision DSP driver)
  3. Identify Vision DSP driver presence
    Run 'ls /vendor/lib/modules/' or 'ls /system/lib/modules/' and look for files containing 'vision', 'dsp', or 'vpu' in the name, or check 'ls -la /dev/video*' for Vision DSP device nodes
    Affected if Vision DSP kernel driver module or device node is present on the device
  4. Check security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB or check Settings > About Phone > Android security patch level
    Affected if Security patch level is earlier than October 2021 (the SMR Oct-2021 Release 1 that contains the fix)
  5. Verify system-level privileges
    Run 'whoami' and 'id' via ADB shell to confirm if you have system-level or root access
    Affected if Attacker already has system-level privileges (this is a privilege escalation from system to root, not from user to system)

A Samsung device running Android 11.0 with the Vision DSP driver loaded and a security patch level earlier than October 2021 SMR is affected by this privilege escalation 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.

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

Apply the SMR Oct-2021 Release 1 or later vendor firmware update which contains the patched Vision DSP kernel driver to address the buffer overflow vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

SMR Oct-2021 Release 1

  1. Verify the device model is a Samsung Android device receiving monthly security updates
  2. Navigate to Settings > Security > Security update on the device
  3. Check the current SMR (Security Maintenance Release) patch level
  4. If the patch level is earlier than October 2021 SMR, download and install the latest available OTA (Over-The-Air) update or firmware update containing SMR Oct-2021 Release 1
  5. Alternatively, connect device to Samsung Smart Switch PC software to check for and apply the October 2021 security update
  6. After installation, verify the patch level reflects SMR Oct-2021 or later under Settings > About phone > Software information > Security patch level

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2021-25467 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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