CVE-2023-21390
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 Sim, there is a possible way to evade mobile preference restrictions due to a permission bypass. 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 confidenceIn Sim (Android's system app for SIM management), a permission bypass vulnerability allows evading mobile preference restrictions, leading to local privilege escalation without requiring additional execution privileges or user interaction.
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
- 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 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 ADBAffected if The version is below 14.0 (Android 13 or earlier)
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Verify security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADBAffected if The patch level is earlier than 2023-04-01 (April 2023)
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Confirm Sim app presenceThe Sim app is a system app bundled with Android; check via Settings > Apps > SIM card manager or verify package 'com.android.phone' existsAffected if Device has Android system with SIM management capability
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Review app permissions for SimGo to Settings > Apps > SIM card manager > Permissions to see if any permission modifications are possibleAffected if Unrestricted or modifiable permissions on the Sim component indicate potential exposure
A device is affected if it runs Android version below 14.0 AND has a security patch level earlier than April 2023, allowing the permission bypass in the Sim component to be exploitable.
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 relevant Android security patch (part of the 2023-04-01 security patch level or later) provided by the device OEM to address the permission bypass in the Sim component.
Android 14.0
- Upgrade the Android device to version 14.0 or later to remediate the permission bypass vulnerability in the Sim component
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $2,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21390 — 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-2023-21390 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