CVE-2023-21327
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 Permission 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 · high confidenceThis is an Android platform vulnerability in the Permission Manager that allows a local attacker to determine whether a specific application is installed on the device without requiring query permissions. The information disclosure occurs through a side channel, meaning the attacker can infer app presence indirectly rather than through direct querying. This enables device fingerprinting and targeted attacks based on installed apps.
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 The Android version is below 14.0 (Android 14)
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Verify this is a platform-level issueConfirm the device runs standard Android (AOSP-based) and not a locked-down sandboxed environment - this vulnerability affects the Android platform Permission Manager componentAffected if The device uses a standard Android platform with AOSP Permission Manager
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Confirm no app-specific mitigation existsReview that there is no device configuration, permission, or setting in the Permission Manager that can disable this side channel - the flaw is inherent to how the system handles app existence queriesAffected if No security-hardened configuration exists to block unauthenticated app-existence queries through the Permission Manager
If the device runs Android versions prior to 14.0, the platform is affected by this Permission Manager side-channel information disclosure 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
This is a platform-level vulnerability requiring a fix in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Users should apply system updates from their device manufacturers. Security reviewers can audit app installations to detect suspicious patterns, but the root fix must come from Google's platform-level patch.
Android 14.0
- Check the current Android version on the device by navigating to Settings > About Phone > Android version
- Update the device to Android 14.0 or later following the device manufacturer's update instructions (Settings > System > Software Update or similar)
- After the update completes, verify the device is running Android 14.0 or higher in Settings > About Phone
- Confirm the vulnerability is addressed by verifying the Permission Manager component has been updated as part of the Android 14.0 system image
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $4,480.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21327 — 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-2023-21327 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
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