CVE-2023-21298
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 Slice, there is a possible disclosure of installed applications due to side channel information disclosure. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.
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 confidenceThis is a vulnerability in Android's Slice component that allows an attacker to discover installed applications through a side channel information disclosure. The side channel leaks timing or other observable information that can be used to enumerate installed apps without any user interaction or elevated privileges. This information could then be used for local privilege escalation.
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< 14.0CVSS 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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Determine the Android OS versionRun 'getprop ro.build.version.sdk' or 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell, or check Settings > About Phone > Android versionAffected if The SDK version is less than 34 (Android 14) or the release version is below 14.0
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Verify the Slice component is presentRun 'pm list packages | grep slice' or check for packages containing 'android.slice' via 'dumpsys package android.slice' in ADB shellAffected if The Slice system component package exists on the device (it is present by default on most Android devices)
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Confirm Slice runtime statusRun 'dumpsys package android.slice' and check the 'enabled' and 'hidden' status flags in the outputAffected if The component is enabled (which is the default state for most Android distributions)
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Check for pending security updatesRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to retrieve the installed security patch levelAffected if The security patch level is earlier than the June 2023 Android Security Bulletin (or the device has not received the CVE-2023-21298 fix)
The environment is affected if Android version is below 14.0 (SDK < 34), the Slice component is present and enabled, and the device has not received the June 2023 Android security patch or later that addresses this vulnerability.
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 · scoped14.0
Apply Android security patches from device vendors (Google releases these in monthly security bulletins). Since this is a system component vulnerability, there are no workarounds; the fix must come from the Android platform update.
Android 14.0
- Upgrade the Android device or system to Android 14.0 or later to obtain the security patch that addresses this vulnerability
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,872.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21298 — 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-2023-21298 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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