CVE-2023-42643
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 validationtools, 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 confidenceThis vulnerability in the validationtools component involves a missing permission check that allows local users to access sensitive information without elevated privileges. The lack of proper authorization validation permits unauthorized disclosure of data 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= 12.0= 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
- 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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Identify Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if The displayed version is 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 exactly (not a later version)
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Locate validationtools componentSearch for validationtools in the system partition using 'find /system -name *validationtools*' or 'ls -la /system/app/validationtools/' via ADB shellAffected if The validationtools component exists on the device and is installed as part of the system image
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Check component permissionsRun 'dumpsys package validationtools' or check the AndroidManifest.xml within the component for android:permission attributes protecting sensitive data access pointsAffected if The component lacks proper android:permission declarations on data access functions, allowing any local app or user to invoke sensitive operations without entitlements
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Verify unauthorized data access is possibleAttempt to invoke validationtools functions from a non-privileged context using ADB or a test app without special permissions to confirm if sensitive information can be retrievedAffected if Sensitive data or functions are accessible without requiring elevated privileges such as signature or system-level permissions
If the device runs Android 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 and has the validationtools component present without proper permission enforcement on sensitive data access points, the environment is affected by this CVE.
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 permission and authorization checks at all access points within validationtools to verify user entitlements before granting access to sensitive data or functions.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-42643 — 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-2023-42643 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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