dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Samsung

CVE-2026-21018

MEDIUM · 6.7 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 →
69/100
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
Out-of-bounds write in SveService prior to SMR May-2026 Release 1 allows local privileged attackers to execute arbitrary code.

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

Out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Samsung's SveService allows local privileged attackers to execute arbitrary code. This is a memory corruption flaw in a Samsung proprietary service that can be exploited by attackers with local access and elevated privileges.

MitigationApply the SMR May-2026 Release 1 security patch which contains the fix for this vulnerability. Organizations should ensure Samsung devices receive timely security updates.

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checks

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

  1. Identify device manufacturer
    Check if the device is a Samsung device by running 'getprop ro.product.brand' or checking device settings
    Affected if Device is not Samsung, the vulnerability does not apply
  2. Check Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check in Settings > About Phone > Android version
    Affected if Version is NOT 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 - the device is not in the affected version range
  3. Verify SveService exists
    Check for the SveService binary or service by running 'ls -la /system/bin/sveservice' or 'ps -A | grep -i sve'
    Affected if SveService is not present on the device, the vulnerability cannot be exploited
  4. Check if SveService is running
    Run 'dumpsys | grep -i sve' or 'ps -A | grep -i sve' to see if the service is active
    Affected if Service is not running, the attack surface is reduced but the vulnerable binary may still be present

Device is affected if it is a Samsung Android device running version 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 with the SveService binary present on the system, regardless of whether the service is currently running.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the SMR May-2026 Release 1 security patch which contains the fix for this vulnerability. Organizations should ensure Samsung devices receive timely security updates.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,360
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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-2026-21018 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