CVE-2023-21323
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 Activity Manager, 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 · moderate confidenceThis is a side channel information disclosure vulnerability in Android's Activity Manager that allows an unprivileged local attacker to determine whether a specific application is installed on the device, without requiring any query permissions. The vulnerability exploits timing or behavioral differences in how the Activity Manager handles requests for non-existent versus installed applications.
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 the Android OS versionNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run `getprop ro.build.version.release` via ADB shellAffected if The Android version is below 14.0 (any version 13, 12, 11, etc.)
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Verify the Activity Manager component existsConfirm the device has the Activity Manager service by checking for system process activity or running `dumpsys activity` via ADBAffected if The Activity Manager service is present on the device (standard on all Android devices)
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Confirm unprivileged app installation is possibleCheck if the device allows installing apps from unknown sources or if it is a managed/enterprise device with restricted app installation policiesAffected if The device permits installation of unprivileged (non-system) applications
The device is affected if it runs any Android version below 14.0 and allows unprivileged applications to run, since the vulnerability resides in the standard Activity Manager behavior of all such versions.
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 vulnerability requires a system-level security patch from the Android framework (Google). Organizations should ensure mobile devices receive regular security updates and monitor for available patches from device manufacturers or Google.
Android 14.0
- Verify current Android version by navigating to Settings > About Phone > Version Number
- Ensure device is eligible for Android 14.0 update by checking with device manufacturer or carrier
- Connect device to Wi-Fi and charge battery to at least 50%
- Navigate to Settings > System > Software Update (or Settings > About Phone > System Update)
- Check for updates and download Android 14.0 when available
- Install the update and allow device to restart
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21323 — 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-2023-21323 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