CVE-2023-21333
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 Text Services, 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 confidenceIn Android Text Services, an information disclosure vulnerability exists where a side channel allows determining whether a specific app is installed without requiring query permissions. This enables local adversaries to enumerate installed applications on the device, revealing sensitive app presence information. No user interaction or additional execution privileges are needed for exploitation.
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. Alternatively, run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB or terminal emulator.Affected if The reported Android version is less than 14.0 (e.g., 13, 12, 11, etc.)
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Verify security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. Alternatively, run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB or terminal emulator.Affected if The security patch level is earlier than March 2023 (e.g., February 2023, January 2023, or older).
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Confirm Text Services availabilityAndroid Text Services is a system component included by default on all Android devices. No user-facing service toggle or app setting needs to be enabled for this vulnerability to exist. Verify the component exists by checking for 'Text Services' in Settings > Language & Input > Text Services (on devices that expose this).Affected if Text Services is present on the device (which it is by default on all Android installations). This is the default state on affected versions.
A device is affected if it runs Android version 14.0 or later has NOT been applied, meaning the Android version is below 14.0 and the device lacks the March 2023 or later security patch.
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 (Google's March 2023 or later security update) to affected devices. Users should ensure their devices receive regular security updates from OEMs. Consider minimizing storage of sensitive app names in ways that could be inferred through side channels.
Android 14.0
- Upgrade the Android device to Android 14.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability
- Verify the Android version by navigating to Settings > About Phone > Android version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21333 — 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-2023-21333 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data