VulnerabilityPublished 4 May 2023Updated 21 Oct 2025

CVE-2023-21492: Samsung Mobile Devices · Sensitive Data in Logs

Affects Samsung Mobile DevicesSource CVE Database V5

Exploited in the wild · KEV due 9 Jun 2023 · 2% EPSS : apply the vendor's fix or mitigations to Samsung Mobile Devices now.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.4Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

KEV deadline: 9 Jun 2023 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else. Other KEV due dates
EPSS: 2.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 84% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 May 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: evidence found.
Listed in CISA KEV 15 days after disclosure
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

CVE ID reserved
by Samsung Mobile
14 Nov 2022, 171 days before disclosure
CVE published
on cve.org
4 May 2023, t = 0
Added to CISA KEV (opens in a new tab)
exploitation confirmed
19 May 2023, 15 days after disclosure
KEV remediation due
US federal deadline
9 Jun 2023, 36 days after disclosure

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), CISA KEV (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Samsung Mobile Samsung Mobile Devices	Affected =12	Fixed in–

Description

Kernel pointers are printed in the log file prior to SMR May-2023 Release 1 allows a privileged local attacker to bypass ASLR.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-21492 lies in the potential for local privilege escalation attacks on Samsung mobile devices used within corporate environments. Organizations that issue Samsung smartphones to employees, especially those with sensitive roles or access to confidential data, may face increased risk if devices are compromised by insiders or attackers with physical access. The leakage of kernel pointers can facilitate exploitation of other vulnerabilities, potentially leading to unauthorized access to corporate resources or data leakage. While the vulnerability does not directly cause denial of service or data corruption, it weakens device security posture and could be a stepping stone for more severe attacks. Given the widespread use of Samsung devices in Europe, especially in business contexts, this vulnerability could affect mobile device management (MDM) security and compliance. Additionally, sectors with high security requirements such as finance, government, and critical infrastructure may be particularly concerned about the risk of local privilege escalation on mobile endpoints.

Mitigation

To mitigate CVE-2023-21492, European organizations should prioritize deploying the Samsung May 2023 Security Maintenance Release (SMR) update to all affected devices running Android 11, 12, and 13. Organizations should enforce strict mobile device management policies that limit local privileged access to trusted personnel only and monitor for unusual local activity on devices. Employing endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of monitoring local privilege escalations on mobile devices can help detect exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should educate users about the risks of granting elevated privileges to untrusted applications or users and implement strong authentication and device encryption to reduce the risk of physical compromise. Regular audits of device logs for suspicious kernel pointer disclosures or unauthorized access attempts can also help identify exploitation attempts. Where possible, restricting the use of devices with outdated firmware or unpatched vulnerabilities in sensitive environments is advisable.

CWE-532Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A09:2025: Security Logging & Alerting Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product writes sensitive information to a log file.
Architecture and Design · Implementation
Consider seriously the sensitivity of the information written into log files. Do not write secrets into the log files.
Distribution
Remove debug log files before deploying the application into production.
Operation
Protect log files against unauthorized read/write.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Application Logging Vocabulary (opens in a new tab)
Logging (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V7.1.1 (opens in a new tab)
V7.1.2 (opens in a new tab)
V8.3.5 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Fuzzing for application mapping (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

Timeline

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 28 Oct 2025, 22:59 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-532

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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