CVE-2023-21365
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 Contacts, there is a possible crash loop due to resource exhaustion. This could lead to local denial of service in the Phone app with User 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 confidenceA resource exhaustion vulnerability in the Android Contacts component allows a local attacker to trigger a crash loop in the Phone app without user interaction. The issue stems from improper resource management when processing contacts, leading to denial of service.
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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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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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Verify Contacts component is presentCheck for com.android.contacts package via 'pm list packages | grep contacts' in ADB shellAffected if Contacts package is installed and enabled on the device
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Confirm Phone app availabilityCheck for com.android.phone package via 'pm list packages | grep phone' in ADB shellAffected if Phone app package exists on the device
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Check if Contacts provider is accessibleQuery contacts provider status via 'content query --uri content://com.android.contacts' in ADB shell with appropriate permissionsAffected if Contacts can be queried without user interaction (vulnerability trigger condition)
Device is affected if running Android version below 14.0 with the Contacts component and Phone app present and accessible.
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 the vendor patch for CVE-2023-21365 to address the resource exhaustion in the Contacts component. If no patch available, implement proper resource limits and bounds checking in contact processing logic.
Android 14.0
- Verify your device is eligible for Android 14.0 upgrade by checking your device manufacturer's update support page
- Ensure your device has sufficient battery (at least 50%) and storage space before upgrading
- Back up important data to cloud or external storage as a precaution
- Check for system updates in Settings > System > Software Update (or Settings > About Phone > System Update)
- Download and install Android 14.0 when available from your device manufacturer
- After upgrade, verify the Phone app and Contacts function normally without crashes
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,512.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21365 — 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-2023-21365 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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