CVE-2023-42548
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 · uneditedUse of implicit intent for sensitive communication vulnerability in startMandatoryCheckActivity in Samsung Account prior to version 14.5.00.7 allows attackers to access arbitrary file with Samsung Account privilege.
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 confidenceThis is an Android implicit intent handling vulnerability in Samsung Account's startMandatoryCheckActivity function. The app uses implicit intents for sensitive communication, which can be intercepted by malicious applications. This allows an attacker to access arbitrary files with Samsung Account privileges by capturing the implicit intent meant for internal component communication.
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< 14.5.00.7CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 Samsung Account app versionOpen Settings > Apps > Samsung Account, then view the Version information. Alternatively, run: adb shell dumpsys package com.samsung.android.account | grep versionNameAffected if The displayed version number is lower than 14.5.00.7 (e.g., 14.5.00.6, 14.4.x.x, etc.)
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Confirm vulnerable activity component existsRun: adb shell dumpsys package com.samsung.android.account | grep -A 5 startMandatoryCheckActivity. This checks if the vulnerable startMandatoryCheckActivity component is exported and available.Affected if The activity component is present and exported in the package manifest
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Verify intent handling behaviorFor security reviewers: Use an intent sniffer tool to monitor implicit intents dispatched by Samsung Account. Check if sensitive operations use implicit intents without proper permission constraints.Affected if The app dispatches implicit intents for sensitive operations (like file access) without restricting receivers
You are affected if Samsung Account version is installed and is lower than 14.5.00.7, allowing the implicit intent to be intercepted by malicious 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.
dbcve · scoped14.5.00.7
Upgrade Samsung Account to version 14.5.00.7 or later, which implements explicit intent handling and proper intent filtering for sensitive communications.
Samsung Account version 14.5.00.7 or later
- Open the Galaxy Store or Google Play Store on your Samsung device
- Search for 'Samsung Account' in the app store
- Update Samsung Account to version 14.5.00.7 or later
- Verify the update was successful by checking the app version in Settings > Apps > Samsung Account
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-42548 — 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-2023-42548 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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