AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-26091

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges 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
Improper access control vulnerability in Knox Manage prior to SMR Apr-2022 Release 1 allows that physical attackers can bypass Knox Manage using a function key of hardware keyboard.

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

Improper access control in Knox Manage prior to SMR Apr-2022 Release 1 allows physically present attackers to bypass the device management controls by pressing a function key on an attached hardware keyboard.

MitigationUpdate Knox Manage to SMR Apr-2022 Release 1 or later to remediate the improper access control 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:= 10.0= 11.0= 12.0

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
Physical
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/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 the Android OS version
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone (or About Device) > Android version and note the version number
    Affected if The Android version is 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0
  2. Check the Knox Manage application version
    Open the Knox Manage app, then go to Settings or About section to find the software version string
    Affected if The Knox Manage version is earlier than SMR Apr-2022 Release 1 or the version cannot be confirmed as Apr-2022 Release 1 or later
  3. Determine if a hardware keyboard is attached
    Inspect physical USB/Bluetooth keyboard connections or check Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard to see if external keyboard support is enabled
    Affected if A physical hardware keyboard is connected or external keyboard input is enabled on the device

The device is affected if it runs Android 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0, has Knox Manage installed at a version earlier than SMR Apr-2022 Release 1, and has a hardware keyboard attached or external keyboard support enabled.

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

Update Knox Manage to SMR Apr-2022 Release 1 or later to remediate the improper access control vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

SMR Apr-2022 Release 1 (April 2022 Samsung Security Update)

  1. Check your device model for April 2022 SMR (Security Maintenance Release) availability
  2. Navigate to Settings > Software update on your Samsung device
  3. Download and install the April 2022 security update (SMR Apr-2022 Release 1)
  4. After update, verify Knox Manage is functioning with the security fix applied
  5. For enterprise-managed devices, ensure MDM policies are updated to work with the patched version
Caveat Security patches typically have minimal impact; however, verify Knox Manage policies function correctly after update as the bypass mechanism has been closed

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-26091 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-26091 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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