dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-21373

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-30
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
In Telephony, there is a possible way for a guest user to change the preferred SIM due to a missing permission check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege 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 confidence

This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Android's Telephony component. A guest user can change the preferred SIM setting due to a missing permission check, allowing a low-privilege user to perform an action that should require higher privileges.

MitigationApply the Android security patch for CVE-2023-21373, which adds proper permission validation to the Telephony preferred SIM change functionality.

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
AndroidOperating system
Affected:= 14.0

CVSS 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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version
    Affected if The version is exactly 14.0 (this CVE affects only Android 14.0, not other versions)
  2. Verify multiple user accounts exist
    Check Settings > Users & Accounts or run 'pm list users' command
    Affected if A guest user account or secondary user account is present on the device (the vulnerability allows such low-privilege users to change SIM settings)
  3. Confirm Telephony component is present
    Check if the device has telephony/SIM capability via Settings > Network & Internet > SIM cards or by verifying 'telephony' is in getprop services listing
    Affected if The device has SIM card management functionality (the vulnerable component must be present for exploitation)
  4. Test SIM settings accessibility
    Attempt to access Settings > Network & Internet > SIM cards while logged in as a guest or secondary user account
    Affected if A guest or secondary user can open SIM settings without being prompted for the primary user password (indicating the missing permission check is present)

A device is affected if it runs Android 14.0, has multiple user accounts enabled, and allows guest or secondary users to access and modify SIM settings without proper permission validation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Android security patch for CVE-2023-21373, which adds proper permission validation to the Telephony preferred SIM change functionality.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android Security Patch Level 2023-09-01 or later

  1. Check the current Android security patch level on the device by going to Settings > About Phone > Android version or Security patch level
  2. Ensure the device is updated to at least the September 2023 Android Security Patch Level (2023-09-01) or later
  3. Apply any available system updates through Settings > System > Software Update or Settings > About Phone > Software Update
  4. After updating, verify the security patch level reflects the September 2023 update or later to confirm the vulnerability is patched
Caveat Security patches are low-risk cumulative updates and typically do not introduce breaking changes; they only contain bug fixes and security improvements

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-21373 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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