CVE-2023-38293
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 · uneditedCertain software builds for the Nokia C200 and Nokia C100 Android devices contain a vulnerable, pre-installed app with a package name of com.tracfone.tfstatus (versionCode='31', versionName='12') that allows local third-party apps to execute arbitrary AT commands in its context (radio user) via AT command injection due to inadequate access control and inadequate input filtering. No permissions or special privileges are necessary to exploit the vulnerability in the com.tracfone.tfstatus app. No user interaction is required beyond installing and running a third-party app. The software build fingerprints for each confirmed vulnerable device are as follows: Nokia C200 (Nokia/Drake_02US/DRK:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_080:user/release-keys and Nokia/Drake_02US/DRK:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_040:user/release-keys) and Nokia C100 (Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_270:user/release-keys, Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_190:user/release-keys, Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_130:user/release-keys, Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_110:user/release-keys, Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_080:user/release-keys, and Nokia/DrakeLite_02US/DKT:12/SP1A.210812.016/02US_1_050:user/release-keys). This malicious app sends a broadcast Intent to the receiver component named com.tracfone.tfstatus/.TFStatus. This broadcast receiver extracts a string from the Intent and uses it as an extra when it starts the com.tracfone.tfstatus/.TFStatusActivity activity component which uses the externally controlled string as an input to execute an AT command. There are two different injection techniques to successfully inject arbitrary AT commands to execute.
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 confidenceA pre-installed app (com.tracfone.tfstatus) on Nokia C200 and C100 Android devices contains a vulnerable broadcast receiver that accepts input from any local third-party app without access control. The receiver passes this input to an activity component that executes AT commands without input filtering, allowing local attackers to inject arbitrary AT commands running in the radio user context.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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 modelCheck Settings > About Phone > Model Number or run 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADB shellAffected if Device model is Nokia C200 or C100
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Verify vulnerable app existsRun 'pm list packages | grep tfstatus' via ADB shell, or check Settings > Apps for an app named tfstatusAffected if Package com.tracfone.tfstatus is installed on the device
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Confirm broadcast receiver is exportedRun 'dumpsys package com.tracfone.tfstatus' via ADB and search for broadcast receivers with android:exported=true, or decompile the APK and inspect AndroidManifest.xml for the receiver with action 'com.tracfone.tfstatus.RECEIVE'Affected if The broadcast receiver is exported (android:exported=true) allowing any local app to send intents
Device is affected if it is a Nokia C200 or C100 with the com.tracfone.tfstatus app present and its broadcast receiver exported to third-party apps.
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.
From vendor dataThe vulnerable app must be patched or removed by Nokia through a firmware/OS update; organizations should apply OEM security patches when available or consider device replacement if unsupported.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-38293 — 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-2023-38293 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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