CVE-2023-40649
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 · uneditedIn Messaging, there is a possible missing permission check. This could lead to local information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed
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 confidenceA missing permission check in the Android Messaging component allows any local application or process to access sensitive messaging data without requiring any elevated privileges. An attacker with basic app installation capability could exploit this to read SMS messages, MMS content, or other messaging metadata that should be protected.
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= 12.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 version numberOpen Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run `adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release`Affected if The version shown is exactly 11.0 or 12.0
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Identify the default SMS/Messaging applicationGo to Settings > Apps > Default apps > Messaging app (or SMS app), or run `adb shell pm list packages -d | grep -i messaging`Affected if Any default messaging app is set on an affected Android version (11.0 or 12.0)
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Verify Android security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run `adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch`Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the fix for CVE-2023-40649 (no specific date in provided data, so this confirms vulnerability if version matches affected range)
A device is affected if it runs Android 11.0 or 12.0 exactly and uses the default Messaging component, as the missing permission check in this component allows unprivileged apps to access SMS/MMS data.
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 dataImplement proper runtime permission checks in all Messaging component entry points to verify the calling application's identity and permissions before granting access to messaging data. Apply context-aware permission validation using Android's permission model.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-40649 — 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-2023-40649 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data