CVE-2023-21053
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 · uneditedIn sms_ExtractCbLanguage of sms_CellBroadcast.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to remote information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android kernelAndroid ID: A-251805610References: N/A
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 confidenceA missing bounds check in the sms_ExtractCbLanguage function of sms_CellBroadcast.c allows an out of bounds read vulnerability in Android's Cell Broadcast SMS handling. This enables remote information disclosure without requiring any user interaction or elevated privileges, as the vulnerability occurs during parsing of Cell Broadcast messages.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Android security patch levelOn the Android device, go to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level. Alternatively, run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via Android Debug Bridge.Affected if The security patch level is earlier than September 5, 2023 (2023-09-05)
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Verify Android versionNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or use 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'Affected if The device is running any version of Android without the specific CVE fix applied
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Confirm Cell Broadcast receiver is activeCheck if Cell Broadcast (Cell Broadcast Service) is enabled on the device. On most Android phones: go to Settings > Network & Internet > Emergency Alerts, or Settings > Messages > Cell Broadcasts. Look for 'Cell Broadcast' or 'Emergency Alerts' settings.Affected if Cell Broadcast reception is enabled - this is required for the vulnerable code path to be exercised
A device is affected if it has a security patch level earlier than 2023-09-05 AND has Cell Broadcast reception enabled, as the out-of-bounds read occurs during Cell Broadcast message parsing.
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.
From vendor dataApply Android security updates (patch level 2023-09-05 or later) to affected devices. Since this is a kernel-level vulnerability, no direct code remediation is possible; organizations must ensure endpoint devices receive vendor-supplied security patches.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21053 — 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-2023-21053 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data