dbcve.org
Improper Access ControlWeakness · CWE-284

CVE-2023-38297

HIGH · 8.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
89/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges 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
An issue was discovered in a third-party com.factory.mmigroup component, shipped on devices from multiple device manufacturers. Certain software builds for various Android devices contain a vulnerable pre-installed app with a package name of com.factory.mmigroup (versionCode='3', versionName='2.1) that allows local third-party apps to perform various actions, due to inadequate access control, in its context (system user), but the functionalities exposed depend on the specific device. The following capabilities are exposed to zero-permission, third-party apps on the following devices: arbitrary AT command execution via AT command injection (T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G, T-Mobile Revvl V+ 5G, and Boost Mobile Celero 5G); programmatic factory reset (Samsung Galaxy A03S, T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G, T-Mobile Revvl V+ 5G, Boost Mobile Celero, Realme C25Y, and Lenovo Tab M8 HD), leaking IMEI (Samsung Galaxy A03S, T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G, T-Mobile Revvl V+ 5G, Boost Mobile Celero, and Realme C25Y); leaking serial number (Samsung Galaxy A03s, T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G, T-Mobile Revvl V+ 5G, Boost Mobile Celero, Realme C25Y, and Lenovo Tab M8 HD); powering off the device (Realme C25Y, Samsung Galaxy A03S, and T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G); and programmatically enabling/disabling airplane mode (Samsung Galaxy A03S, T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G, T-Mobile Revvl V+ 5G, Boost Mobile Celero, and Realme C25Y); and enabling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS (Samsung Galaxy A03S, T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G, T-Mobile Revvl V+ 5G, Boost Mobile Celero, and Realme C25Y). No permissions or special privileges are necessary to exploit the vulnerabilities in the com.factory.mmigroup 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: Boost Mobile Celero 5G (Celero5G/Jupiter/Jupiter:11/RP1A.200720.011/SW_S98119AA1_V067:user/release-keys, Celero5G/Jupiter/Jupiter:11/RP1A.200720.011/SW_S98119AA1_V064:user/release-keys, Celero5G/Jupiter/Jupiter:11/RP1A.200720.011/SW_S98119AA1_V061:user/release-keys, and Celero5G/Jupiter/Jupiter:11/RP1A.200720.011/SW_S98119AA1_V052:user/release-keys); Samsung Galaxy A03S (samsung/a03sutfn/a03su:13/TP1A.220624.014/S134DLUDU6CWB6:user/release-keys and samsung/a03sutfn/a03su:12/SP1A.210812.016/S134DLUDS5BWA1:user/release-keys); Lenovo Tab M8 HD (Lenovo/LenovoTB-8505F/8505F:10/QP1A.190711.020/S300637_220706_BMP:user/release-keys and Lenovo/LenovoTB-8505F/8505F:10/QP1A.190711.020/S300448_220114_BMP:user/release-keys); T-Mobile Revvl 6 Pro 5G (T-Mobile/Augusta/Augusta:12/SP1A.210812.016/SW_S98121AA1_V070:user/release-keys and T-Mobile/Augusta/Augusta:12/SP1A.210812.016/SW_S98121AA1_V066:user/release-keys); T-Mobile Revvl V+ 5G (T-Mobile/Sprout/Sprout:11/RP1A.200720.011/SW_S98115AA1_V077:user/release-keys and T-Mobile/Sprout/Sprout:11/RP1A.200720.011/SW_S98115AA1_V060:user/release-keys); and Realme C25Y (realme/RMX3269/RED8F6:11/RP1A.201005.001/1675861640000:user/release-keys, realme/RMX3269/RED8F6:11/RP1A.201005.001/1664031768000:user/release-keys, realme/RMX3269/RED8F6:11/RP1A.201005.001/1652814687000:user/release-keys, and realme/RMX3269/RED8F6:11/RP1A.201005.001/1635785712000:user/release-keys). This malicious app sends a broadcast Intent to com.factory.mmigroup/.MMIGroupReceiver. This causes the com.factory.mmigroup app to dynamically register for various action strings. The malicious app can then send these strings, allowing it to perform various behaviors that the com.factory.mmigroup app exposes. The actual behaviors exposed by the com.factory.mmigroup app depend on device model and chipset. The com.factory.mmigroup app executes as the "system" user, allowing it to interact with the baseband processor and perform various other sensitive actions.

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

A pre-installed system app (com.factory.mmigroup, versionCode 3, versionName 2.1) on multiple Android devices exposes dangerous functionalities to any local third-party app without requiring any permissions. The vulnerable app runs as the system user and accepts broadcast Intents containing action strings that trigger privileged operations including AT command execution, factory reset, IMEI/serial number exfiltration, device power-off, airplane mode toggle, and enabling Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/GPS. An attacker simply installs a malicious app that sends crafted broadcasts to com.factory.mmigroup/.MMIGroupReceiver to invoke these capabilities.

MitigationThe primary remediation is for device OEMs to push system updates that either remove the com.factory.mmigroup app or patch its access control to validate calling packages. Until an update is available, users should avoid installing apps from untrusted sources and monitor for unusual device behavior.

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/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. Check if com.factory.mmigroup app is installed
    Run 'pm list packages | grep factory.mmigroup' via ADB shell or use a package manager app to list installed packages
    Affected if The package com.factory.mmigroup is present on the device
  2. Verify the version of com.factory.mmigroup
    Run 'dumpsys package com.factory.mmigroup' via ADB shell and look for versionCode and versionName in the output
    Affected if versionCode is 3 and versionName is 2.1, matching the vulnerable version
  3. Check if MMIGroupReceiver is exported
    Run 'dumpsys package com.factory.mmigroup' and examine the receiver section for the MMIGroupReceiver; check if android:exported is true or not explicitly set to false
    Affected if The receiver is exported (android:exported="true" or not explicitly set to false), allowing any app to send broadcasts to it
  4. Test if arbitrary broadcasts are accepted
    Send a test broadcast to the receiver using an app or adb command: 'am broadcast -n com.factory.mmigroup/.MMIGroupReceiver --es action test' and observe if it is accepted without security checks
    Affected if The broadcast is accepted and processed without validating the calling package, indicating the vulnerability is present

A device is affected if the com.factory.mmigroup app (versionCode 3, versionName 2.1) is installed and its MMIGroupReceiver is exported to third-party apps, allowing any app to trigger privileged operations via broadcast intents.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

The primary remediation is for device OEMs to push system updates that either remove the com.factory.mmigroup app or patch its access control to validate calling packages. Until an update is available, users should avoid installing apps from untrusted sources and monitor for unusual device behavior.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
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  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
60.0 hours of engineering $10,560
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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-2023-38297 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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