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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-25470

HIGH · 7.9 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 →
81/100
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
An improper caller check logic of SMC call in TEEGRIS secure OS prior to SMR Oct-2021 Release 1 can be used to compromise TEE.

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

A vulnerability in Samsung's TEEGRIS secure OS where improper caller validation in Secure Monitor Call (SMC) entry points allows a compromised or malicious caller to bypass authentication and execute code within the Trusted Execution Environment, potentially escalating privileges to the secure world.

MitigationApply the Samsung SMR Oct-2021 Release 1 or later firmware update which contains corrected caller verification logic for SMC calls in TEEGRIS. Organizations should coordinate with device manufacturers for 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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/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. Confirm device is a Samsung product
    Run 'getprop ro.product.brand' or 'getprop ro.product.manufacturer' from ADB shell to verify the device is manufactured by Samsung. TEEGRIS is Samsung's proprietary Trusted Execution Environment and only exists on Samsung devices.
    Affected if The device brand or manufacturer is not Samsung (the vulnerability only affects Samsung's TEEGRIS secure OS).
  2. Check Android OS version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' from ADB shell or check Settings > About Phone > Android version. Confirm the exact version number matches 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0.
    Affected if The Android version is exactly 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0. Versions outside this range are not affected.
  3. Verify TEEGRIS TEE is present
    Check for TEEGRIS processes or properties. Run 'ps -A | grep tee' or 'getprop | grep tee' from ADB shell to confirm TEEGRIS Trusted Execution Environment is active on the device.
    Affected if TEEGRIS is not present or not active on the device (the vulnerability exists specifically within TEEGRIS SMC entry points).
  4. Check Samsung Maintenance Release (SMR) version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.sem_platform' from ADB shell to retrieve the SMR version. Compare against the October 2021 release (SMR Oct-2021 Release 1 or later contains the fix).
    Affected if The SMR version is earlier than the October 2021 release, meaning the caller validation fix has not been applied.

A user is affected if they have a Samsung device running Android 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 with TEEGRIS present and an SMR version earlier than the October 2021 release.

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 Oct-2021 Release 1 or later firmware update which contains corrected caller verification logic for SMC calls in TEEGRIS. Organizations should coordinate with device manufacturers for patch deployment.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

SMR Oct-2021 Release 1 (Android security patch October 2021 or later)

  1. Check current Android security patch level on the device in Settings > About phone > Software information > Security patch level
  2. Navigate to Settings > Software update > Download and install to check for available updates
  3. Update to the latest Samsung security update (SMR Oct-2021 Release 1 or later) which contains the fix for the TEEGRIS SMC caller check vulnerability
  4. Verify the device is running Android security patch level October 2021 or later after update
Caveat Standard Samsung security update - no expected breaking changes for end users

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
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,720
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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-2021-25470 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
  • 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