AndroidOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2023-21498

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 input validation vulnerability in setPartnerTAInfo in mPOS TUI trustlet prior to SMR May-2023 Release 1 allows local attackers to overwrite the trustlet memory.

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 confidence

Improper input validation in the setPartnerTAInfo function of Samsung's mPOS TUI trustlet allows local attackers to overwrite trustlet memory. This is a memory corruption vulnerability in a TrustZone trusted execution environment component that handles secure payment transactions.

MitigationApply Samsung's SMR May-2023 Release 1 or later security update, which patches the vulnerable trustlet. Users should verify their device has received the latest Samsung security maintenance release.

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
AndroidOperating system
Affected:= 13.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Confirm Samsung Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if Version is exactly 13.0 (not 12.x or 14+) - this CVE affects only Android 13.0 per the affected versions field
  2. Verify security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB
    Affected if Patch level is earlier than May-2023 (SMR May-2023 Release 1 or later contains the fix)
  3. Confirm device has mPOS/TUI trustlet capability
    Check device specifications or look for TUI (Trusted User Interface) related system files in /vendor or /system/vendor partition - the vulnerable trustlet handles secure payment transactions
    Affected if Device has mPOS (mobile Point of Sale) functionality with TUI trustlet present and active

Device is affected if it is a Samsung Android device on version 13.0 with a security patch level before May-2023 AND has mPOS/TUI trustlet capability for secure payment transactions.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Samsung's SMR May-2023 Release 1 or later security update, which patches the vulnerable trustlet. Users should verify their device has received the latest Samsung security maintenance release.

Recommended fix High confidence

SMR May-2023 Release 1 (Security Patch Level May-2023)

  1. Identify the specific Samsung device model number (e.g., SM-S918B for Galaxy S23 Ultra)
  2. Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Software Updates on the Samsung device
  3. Check for available updates and ensure the device receives the SMR May-2023 Release 1 security patch or later
  4. If automatic updates are enabled, the patch should be delivered automatically; otherwise, manually trigger a software update check
  5. Verify the update was applied by checking Settings > About Phone > Software Information and confirming the security patch level shows May-2023 or later
Caveat Samsung monthly security updates typically do not introduce breaking changes; they are cumulative patches that include security fixes without altering core functionality

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
3.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2023-21498 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
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