CVE-2023-21495
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 Knox Enrollment Service prior to SMR May-2023 Release 1 allow attacker install KSP app when device admin is set.
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 vulnerability in Samsung Knox Enrollment Service allows a local attacker to install a Knox Service Plugin (KSP) application when device admin is configured on the device. The service fails to properly validate authorization before permitting KSP installation.
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
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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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Check Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if The version is 11, 12, or 13 (exactly matching the affected versions listed)
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Verify Knox Enrollment Service presenceCheck if com.samsung.android.knox.containerapp or Knox Enrollment Service is installed by reviewing installed packages via 'pm list packages | grep knox' in ADB shellAffected if The Knox Enrollment Service package is present on the device
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Confirm device admin is enabledNavigate to Settings > Security > Device admin, or inspect 'device_policies.xml' in /data/system/ via ADB shell with root accessAffected if Any device admin policy is active/enabled on the device
A user is affected if their Samsung Android device runs version 11, 12, or 13, has the Knox Enrollment Service installed, and has at least one device admin policy enabled on the device.
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 · scopedUpdate Samsung mobile devices to the SMR (Security Maintenance Release) May-2023 or later to obtain the patched Knox Enrollment Service. Ensure enterprise mobility management policies review device admin permissions.
Samsung SMR May-2023 Release 1 or later
- Verify the device is a Samsung device running Android 11, 12, or 13 with Knox Enrollment Service installed
- Navigate to Settings > Security & Privacy > Security update on the Samsung device
- Check for and install the May-2023 SMR (Samsung Maintenance Release) or later security update
- After updating, verify the Knox Enrollment Service has been patched by checking Settings > Apps > Knox Enrollment Service shows the updated version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $3,072.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21495 — 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-2023-21495 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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