CVE-2023-21491
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 access control vulnerability in ThemeManager prior to SMR May-2023 Release 1 allows local attackers to write arbitrary files with system privilege.
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 access control in Samsung's ThemeManager allows local attackers to write arbitrary files with system-level privileges. This enables privilege escalation and potential full system compromise through arbitrary file placement.
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= 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
- 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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Identify device manufacturer and modelRun 'getprop ro.product.manufacturer' and 'getprop ro.product.model' in ADB shell or terminal emulator to confirm the device is SamsungAffected if Device is not Samsung (this CVE only affects Samsung devices)
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Check Android versionRun 'getprop ro.build.version.release' in ADB shell or check Settings > About Phone > Android versionAffected if Version is 12.0 or 13.0 exactly (only these versions are listed as affected)
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Verify patch levelRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' in ADB shell or check Settings > About Phone > Android security patch levelAffected if Patch level is earlier than May 2023 (SMR May-2023 Release 1 contains the fix)
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Confirm ThemeManager presenceRun 'pm list packages | grep thememanager' or 'pm list packages theme' in ADB shell to check if ThemeManager is installedAffected if ThemeManager package is present on the device
A Samsung Android device running version 12.0 or 13.0 with a security patch level before May-2023 and with ThemeManager installed 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 May-2023 Release 1 or later vendor patch to resolve the access control vulnerability in ThemeManager.
SMR May-2023 Release 1 or later
- Go to Settings on your Samsung device running Android 12.0 or 13.0
- Navigate to Software Update or System Updates
- Tap on Check for updates or Download and install
- Ensure the device installs the SMR May-2023 Release 1 security patch or later
- Verify the update was successful by checking the Android security patch level in Settings > About phone > Software information > Security patch level (should show May 2023 or later)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,456.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21491 — 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-2023-21491 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