BixbytouchApplication · Samsung

CVE-2023-21465

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.2.02.5 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
Improper access control vulnerability in BixbyTouch prior to version 3.2.02.5 in China models allows untrusted applications access local files.

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 confidence

Improper access control in BixbyTouch prior to version 3.2.02.5 on China models allows untrusted applications to bypass normal file access restrictions and read local files on the device. This is a broken access control vulnerability where the application fails to properly validate or restrict file access requests from other apps.

MitigationUpdate BixbyTouch to version 3.2.02.5 or later via the application store. For managed devices, verify the update has been applied across all affected devices.

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
BixbytouchApplication
Affected:< 3.2.02.5

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

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

  1. Confirm device is a China model
    Check the device region settings or model number. On Samsung devices, go to Settings > About phone > Model number, or check Settings > Region > Region code. China models have specific regional identifiers in the model number or firmware.
    Affected if The device is a Samsung phone manufactured for the Chinese market (China model)
  2. Locate BixbyTouch app
    Navigate to Settings > Apps on the Samsung device and search for BixbyTouch, or use the command 'adb shell pm list packages | findstr bixbytouch' if developer tools are available.
    Affected if BixbyTouch is installed on the device
  3. Check installed BixbyTouch version
    In Settings > Apps > BixbyTouch > App info, note the version number displayed under 'Version'. Alternatively, use 'adb shell dumpsys package com.samsung.android.bixbytouch' to retrieve detailed version information.
    Affected if The displayed version is lower than 3.2.02.5 or the version field shows a number less than 3020250 (the numeric representation)
  4. Confirm vulnerability applicability
    Verify that both conditions are met: the device is a China model AND the BixbyTouch version is below 3.2.02.5.
    Affected if Both conditions are true: China model AND version < 3.2.02.5

The device is affected only if it is a China model running BixbyTouch version 3.2.02.4 or earlier; non-China models are not affected by this specific vulnerability.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.2.02.5 or later
Fixed in 3.2.02.5
Interim mitigation

Update BixbyTouch to version 3.2.02.5 or later via the application store. For managed devices, verify the update has been applied across all affected devices.

Recommended fix High confidence

BixbyTouch version 3.2.02.5

  1. Identify the BixbyTouch application on the affected Samsung China model device
  2. Verify the current BixbyTouch version is below 3.2.02.5
  3. Upgrade BixbyTouch to version 3.2.02.5 or later through Samsung's official update mechanism (Galaxy Store or system software update)
  4. Confirm the version has been successfully updated after the upgrade

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

Fix this in Bixbytouch Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21465 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-21465 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