CVE-2023-21456
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 · uneditedPath traversal vulnerability in Galaxy Themes Service prior to SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 allows attacker to access arbitrary file with system uid.
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 confidencePath traversal vulnerability in Samsung Galaxy Themes Service allowing attackers to access arbitrary files on the filesystem using system-level privileges. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to the SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 security update.
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= 11.0= 12.0= 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.
-
Check Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version. Verify if the installed version is 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0.Affected if The device runs Android 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 (versions prior to the SMR Mar-2023 Release 1) and is a Samsung Galaxy device with Galaxy Themes Service.
-
Verify Galaxy Themes Service presenceCheck if the Samsung Galaxy Themes Service app is installed. Navigate to Settings > Apps > Galaxy Themes or use ADB: adb shell pm list packages | grep themes.Affected if Galaxy Themes Service is installed and enabled on the Samsung Android device.
-
Check security patch levelNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. Verify the date of the installed security update.Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 (March 2023).
-
Confirm system-level access availabilityThe vulnerability allows system-level privilege access. Verify if the device has been compromised or if unusual file access patterns exist in logs.Affected if Arbitrary file access is possible due to the path traversal in Galaxy Themes Service with elevated privileges.
The device is affected if it is a Samsung Android device running version 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 with Galaxy Themes Service installed, and the security patch level is before the SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 update.
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 security patch to Galaxy Themes Service to remediate the path traversal vulnerability. This is a Samsung-specific vulnerability affecting their Android implementation.
SMR Mar-2023 Release 1
- Check the device's current security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Security patch level
- Navigate to Settings > Software Update and tap 'Download and install' to check for available updates
- Apply the Samsung Security Maintenance Release (SMR) for March 2023 or later, which includes the fix for this vulnerability
- Verify the security patch level has been updated to SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 or newer after the update completes
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21456 — 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-2023-21456 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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