AndroidOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2026-21015

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 · unedited
Incorrect default permissions in FactoryCamera prior to SMR May-2026 Release 1 allows local attacker to access unique identifier.

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 confidence

The FactoryCamera application in Samsung mobile devices had incorrect default file system permissions prior to the SMR May-2026 Release 1. This allowed any local application or user with local device access to read a unique identifier (likely a device-specific serial number or camera sensor identifier) that should have been protected by proper permission controls. A local attacker would need to install a malicious app or have ADB shell access to exploit this.

MitigationUpdate affected Samsung devices to the SMR May-2026 Release 1 or later to receive the corrected default permissions. As a defensive measure, review installed applications for unnecessary permissions and avoid sideloading apps from untrusted sources.

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
AndroidOperating system
Affected:= 14.0= 15.0= 16.0

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if Version is 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0
  2. Verify FactoryCamera application exists
    Check if FactoryCamera is listed in installed apps via Settings > Apps, or run 'adb shell pm list packages | grep factorycamera'
    Affected if FactoryCamera is installed on an affected Android version
  3. Inspect FactoryCamera data directory permissions
    Run 'adb shell ls -la /data/data/com.samsung.factorycamera' or check the app's internal storage directory permissions
    Affected if Directory permissions allow read access by other applications (world-readable) or ADB shell users without proper restrictions
  4. Check for exposed unique identifier files
    Look for files in the app's data directory that may contain device-specific serial numbers or camera sensor identifiers, such as in /data/data/com.samsung.factorycamera/shared_prefs/ or similar locations
    Affected if Unique identifier files are readable by other apps or accessible via ADB shell without authentication

A user is affected if their Samsung device runs Android 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 with FactoryCamera installed, and the app's data directory or identifier files have overly permissive access controls.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update affected Samsung devices to the SMR May-2026 Release 1 or later to receive the corrected default permissions. As a defensive measure, review installed applications for unnecessary permissions and avoid sideloading apps from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

SMR May-2026 Release 1

  1. Navigate to Settings > Software Update on the Samsung device
  2. Tap 'Download and install' to check for and install the latest security update
  3. Ensure the device updates to SMR May-2026 Release 1 or later which contains the corrected FactoryCamera permissions

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,030
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-21015 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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