CVE-2025-21047
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 access control in KnoxGuard prior to SMR Oct-2025 Release 1 allows physical attackers to use the privileged APIs.
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 access control in Samsung KnoxGuard allows physical attackers to bypass authorization checks and invoke privileged APIs that should be restricted. This vulnerability in devices prior to SMR Oct-2025 Release 1 enables an attacker with physical device access to execute elevated/system-level operations through unprotected API endpoints.
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= 14.0= 15.0= 16.0CVSS 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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if The version is exactly 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 (these are the specific affected versions)
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Verify the device is a Samsung productCheck Settings > About Phone > Model number, or run 'getprop ro.product.brand' via ADBAffected if The brand is Samsung (this vulnerability affects Samsung KnoxGuard specifically)
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Confirm KnoxGuard is presentCheck for KnoxGuard app in Settings > Apps, or check for 'com.samsung.android.knoxguard' package via ADB command: 'adb shell pm list packages | grep knoxguard'Affected if KnoxGuard package is installed on the device
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Check the Samsung Maintenance Release (SMR) versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Software information > Build number, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.sem' via ADBAffected if The SMR version is earlier than Oct-2025 Release 1 (the vulnerability is fixed in SMR Oct-2025 Release 1 and later)
The device is affected if it is a Samsung Android device running version 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 with KnoxGuard installed and the SMR is earlier than Oct-2025 Release 1.
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 Samsung devices to the SMR Oct-2025 Release 1 or later to obtain the patched KnoxGuard version that properly enforces access controls on privileged APIs.
Samsung SMR Oct-2025 Release 1 (or later) for Android 14/15/16
- On your Samsung Galaxy device, go to Settings > Software update
- Tap Check for updates to search for the latest Security Maintenance Release
- If SMR Oct-2025 Release 1 or later is available, download and install it
- After installation, verify the patch has been applied by checking Settings > About phone > Software information and confirming the SMR date
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-21047 — 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-2025-21047 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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