CVE-2023-21453
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 · uneditedImproper input validation vulnerability in SoftSim TA prior to SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 allows local attackers access to protected data.
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 confidenceImproper input validation vulnerability in Samsung's SoftSim Trusted Application (TA) allows local attackers to access protected data due to insufficient validation of input parameters before processing sensitive operations.
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= 13.0CVSS 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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Identify the Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if Android version is exactly 13.0 on a Samsung device
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Confirm device is SamsungCheck the manufacturer via Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer, or run 'getprop ro.product.manufacturer' via ADBAffected if Manufacturer is Samsung and version is 13.0
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Check if SoftSim TA is presentLook for SoftSim or related system apps in /system/app/ or /system/priv-app/, or check installed TAs via 'dumpsys trustedui' via ADB if availableAffected if SoftSim Trusted Application is installed on the device
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Verify the installed patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Software info > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADBAffected if Security patch level is earlier than March 2023, meaning the SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 patch has not been applied
A Samsung Android device running version 13.0 with SoftSim TA installed and a security patch level before March 2023 is affected by this 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 · scopedApply the SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 patch or later to the SoftSim TA firmware to remediate the input validation vulnerability.
SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 or later
- Check your Samsung device model for SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 availability on security.samsungmobile.com
- Navigate to Settings > Software Update on your Samsung device
- Tap 'Download and install' to check for available updates
- If SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 or later is available, download and install the update
- Verify the update was applied by checking the Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Software Information
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $4,096.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21453 — 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-2023-21453 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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