CVE-2023-42532
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 Certificate Validation in FotaAgent prior to SMR Nov-2023 Release1 allows remote attacker to intercept the network traffic including Firmware information.
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 certificate validation in FotaAgent allows remote attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks, intercepting firmware update network traffic and potentially exposing or tampering with firmware information.
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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if The Android version is 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0
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Locate FotaAgent applicationCheck for the FotaAgent or FOTA updater app in Settings > Apps, or list installed packages using 'pm list packages | grep -i fota' via ADBAffected if FotaAgent is installed on the device
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Identify FotaAgent versionIn Settings > Apps > FotaAgent > App info, check the version name and version code, or use 'dumpsys package com.samsung.android.fota' via ADBAffected if The FotaAgent version predates the SMR Nov-2023 Release1 update (exact version number unknown; compare against the November 2023 security patch date)
A device is affected if it runs Android 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 AND has FotaAgent installed with a version older than the SMR Nov-2023 Release1.
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 FotaAgent to SMR Nov-2023 Release1 or later which implements proper SSL/TLS certificate validation. Until then, avoid using FotaAgent on untrusted networks.
Samsung SMR Nov-2023 Release1
- Go to Settings on your Samsung Android device
- Tap on 'Software update' or 'System updates'
- Tap on 'Download and install' or 'Check for updates'
- Ensure the device downloads and installs the November 2023 security update (SMR Nov-2023 Release1)
- After installation, verify the update was applied by checking the Android security patch level in Settings > About phone > Software information
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing5.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-42532 — 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-2023-42532 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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