CVE-2023-21317
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 ContentService, there is a possible way to determine whether an app is installed, without query permissions, due to side channel information disclosure. This could lead to local information disclosure 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 · high confidenceThis is an information disclosure vulnerability in Android's ContentService that allows an attacker to determine whether a specific application is installed on the device without requiring query permissions. The vulnerability exploits a side channel (likely timing or behavioral differences) to infer app presence, enabling local information disclosure with no additional privileges or user interaction needed.
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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 OS versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if Version is below 14.0 (Android 14)
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Check Android security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shellAffected if Patch level is earlier than the date Google released the CVE-2023-21317 fix (April 2023 or earlier)
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Verify ContentService is accessibleCheck if the ContentService component responds to queries from untrusted apps by examining if any app can query ContentResolver with no permission and observe timing or return behavior differencesAffected if Unprivileged apps can determine presence of other installed apps through ContentService queries without receiving an empty result or permission error
A device is affected if it runs Android version 14.0 or later but has not received the specific framework patch for CVE-2023-21317, or if it runs any version below Android 14.0.
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
This is a platform-level vulnerability requiring a patch from Google in the Android framework. Organizations should monitor for and apply Android system security updates promptly. App developers cannot directly fix this in their code; remediation depends on the underlying Android version receiving the fix.
Android 14.0 (API level 34) or later
- Check the current Android version on the device or system image
- Verify if the device or system supports Android 14.0 or later
- Upgrade the device or system image to Android 14.0 or later (the latest available stable release)
- After upgrade, verify the system is running Android 14.0 or higher using Settings > About Phone > Android version
- Apply any subsequent available security patches after the Android 14.0 upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21317 — 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-2023-21317 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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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.
- 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