CVE-2021-25494
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 · uneditedA possible buffer overflow vulnerability in libSPenBase library of Samsung Notes prior to Samsung Note version 4.3.02.61 allows arbitrary code execution.
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 · high confidenceA buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the libSPenBase library used by Samsung Notes application. The overflow occurs when processing S Pen input, allowing an attacker to overwrite memory and execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability affects Samsung Notes versions prior to 4.3.02.61.
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< 4.3.02.61CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Samsung Notes is installedOpen Settings > Apps on the Samsung Galaxy device and look for Samsung Notes in the app list, or run 'adb shell pm list packages | grep samsung.notes' via ADBAffected if Samsung Notes is present on the device
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Determine installed Samsung Notes versionNavigate to Settings > Apps > Samsung Notes > App info, or run 'adb shell dumpsys package com.samsung.android.app.notes | grep versionName' via ADBAffected if The version displayed is lower than 4.3.02.61 or the version cannot be determined (older uninstalled version)
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Verify S Pen functionality is enabledCheck if the device has S Pen capability (Galaxy Note series, Galaxy Tab S series, or Galaxy S21 Ultra/S22 Ultra) and ensure Samsung Notes has permission to access S Pen input in Settings > Apps > Samsung Notes > PermissionsAffected if Device supports S Pen and Samsung Notes has permissions to process stylus input, combined with version below 4.3.02.61
The device is affected if Samsung Notes version is below 4.3.02.61 on a device that supports and uses S Pen input with Samsung Notes.
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 · scoped4.3.02.61
Update Samsung Notes to version 4.3.02.61 or later via the Galaxy Store or Samsung's firmware update mechanism. Organizations should identify and remediate outdated Samsung Notes installations on managed devices.
Samsung Notes version 4.3.02.61
- Open Galaxy Store or Google Play Store on your Samsung device
- Search for Samsung Notes
- Locate Samsung Notes in the app store and check for available updates
- Update Samsung Notes to version 4.3.02.61 or later
- Verify the update was successfully installed by checking the app version in Settings > Apps > Samsung Notes
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-25494 — 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-2021-25494 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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- 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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