CVE-2021-25512
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 · uneditedAn improper validation vulnerability in telephony prior to SMR Dec-2021 Release 1 allows attackers to launch certain activities.
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 confidenceImproper validation vulnerability in Samsung Android telephony subsystem prior to SMR Dec-2021 Release 1 allows local attackers to launch certain activities without proper authorization, likely through intent manipulation or insufficient input checking in the telephony service.
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= 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
- 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 Android OS versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run `getprop ro.build.version.release` via ADB shellAffected if The version is 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 exactly (note: this CVE affects these specific versions, not later Android 12+)
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Verify device is SamsungCheck the device manufacturer via Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer, or run `getprop ro.product.manufacturer` via ADB shellAffected if The device is not a Samsung device (this is a Samsung-specific vulnerability in their telephony implementation)
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Check Samsung SMR patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Software information > Security patch level, or run `getprop ro.build.version.sem` via ADB shellAffected if The Security patch level or SMR version is earlier than December 2021 Release 1 (SMR Dec-2021 Release 1 contains the fix)
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Confirm telephony service is activeThe telephony service (Phone or Telephony process) must be running. Check via Settings > Apps > Phone or Telephony, or verify the service is present via ADB: `dumpsys activity services | grep -i phone`Affected if Telephony service is disabled or not present (unlikely on standard phones; if disabled, the attack surface is reduced)
A Samsung device running Android 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 with a Security patch level before December 2021 is likely affected by this improper validation flaw in the telephony subsystem.
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 · scopedUpdate Samsung mobile devices to SMR Dec-2021 Release 1 or later to obtain the patched telephony component.
SMR Dec-2021 Release 1 (December 2021 Samsung Security Patch Level)
- Go to Settings on your Samsung Android device
- Navigate to Software update
- Tap on Download and install to check for available updates
- Locate and install the December 2021 security update (SMR Dec-2021 Release 1)
- Restart the device after the update completes
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-25512 — 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-2021-25512 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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