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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-21183

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
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
In ForegroundUtils of ForegroundUtils.java, there is a possible way to read NFC tag data while the app is still in the background due to a logic error in the code. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-13Android ID: A-235863754

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 logic error in ForegroundUtils.java allows applications to read NFC tag data while still running in the background, bypassing the foreground-only restriction. This enables local privilege escalation without user interaction or additional execution privileges, as the app can access NFC data it should not be permitted to access when not in the foreground.

MitigationThe logic in ForegroundUtils must be corrected to properly enforce foreground requirements before allowing NFC tag data reading. This is an Android framework-level fix requiring code changes to the ForegroundUtils component.

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:= 13.0

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run `getprop ro.build.version.release` via ADB
    Affected if Version equals 13.0 exactly (the only affected version)
  2. Confirm NFC is enabled
    Check Settings > Connected devices > NFC is turned ON, or look for NFC-related services running via `dumpsys nfc`
    Affected if NFC is enabled - this exposes the attack surface for background NFC access
  3. Identify NFC-aware apps in background
    Review running apps with NFC permissions (android.permission.NFC) that may be running in background state using `dumpsys activity activities`
    Affected if Apps with NFC permissions are running in background - these could exploit the logic error to read NFC data
  4. Inspect ForegroundUtils behavior
    Analyze NFC tag dispatch logs via `logcat | grep -i 'nfc'` to see if background apps receive tag data they should not access
    Affected if Background apps receive NFC tag broadcasts when they should be restricted to foreground-only

If the device runs Android 13.0 and has NFC enabled with NFC-permission apps present, the environment is affected by this vulnerability where background apps can read NFC data they should not access.

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

The logic in ForegroundUtils must be corrected to properly enforce foreground requirements before allowing NFC tag data reading. This is an Android framework-level fix requiring code changes to the ForegroundUtils component.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 14 or later (ensure security patch level includes the fix for A-235863754)

  1. 1. Navigate to Settings > System > Software Update (or Settings > About Phone > System Update)
  2. 2. Check for and install any available Android system updates
  3. 3. Verify the device has the latest security patch level installed by checking Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
  4. 4. If available, upgrade to Android 14 which includes the fix for this vulnerability
Caveat Android 14 upgrade may introduce UI changes and require app compatibility testing; verify critical apps are compatible before upgrading

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2023-21183 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
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