CVE-2023-21461
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 authorization vulnerability in AutoPowerOnOffConfirmDialog in Settings prior to SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 allows local attacker to turn device off via unprotected activity.
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 confidenceAn improper authorization vulnerability in the AutoPowerOnOffConfirmDialog activity of Samsung's Settings application allows a local attacker to power off the device without authentication. The activity lacks proper authorization checks, enabling any local user to trigger the device power-off function without required confirmation or credentials.
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
- 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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Confirm Samsung Android deviceCheck device manufacturer and model via Settings > About Phone or by running 'getprop ro.product.brand' and 'getprop ro.product.model' in ADB shellAffected if Device is not a Samsung-branded Android device (vulnerability only affects Samsung Android)
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Check Android versionNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' in ADB shellAffected if Android version is 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0
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Verify SMR patch levelNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Software Information > SMR (Security Maintenance Release) or run 'getprop ro.build.version.sem' in ADB shellAffected if SMR level is earlier than March-2023 (SMR-Mar-2023 or later contains the fix)
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Check Settings app versionNavigate to Settings > Apps > Settings > App info, or run 'pm list packages -3 | grep settings' then 'dumpsys package [settings-package-name]' to see versionAffected if Settings app version does not reflect the March-2023 security update
You are affected if you have a Samsung Android device running version 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 and the SMR patch level is earlier than March-2023.
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 Samsung SMR (Security Maintenance Release) March-2023 or later, which includes the proper authorization enforcement for the AutoPowerOnOffConfirmDialog component.
SMR Mar-2023 Release 1
- Open Settings on the Samsung device
- Navigate to Software Update or System Updates
- Check for and install the latest Samsung security update
- Ensure the device updates to SMR Mar-2023 Release 1 or later which contains the fix for CVE-2023-21461
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21461 — 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-2023-21461 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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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