CVE-2018-16272Public exploit

Wi-Fi interface takeover via missing D-Bus policy

Published Jan 22, 2020 · Updated Aug 5, 2024

Improper privilege management in Samsung Galaxy Gear firmware before build RE2 allows local users to control the Wi-Fi interface. The wpa_supplicant system service lacks a D-Bus security policy, so it accepts privileged Wi-Fi control requests from any unprivileged process. Process execution on the watch is required; exploitation can change Wi-Fi behavior through the service but does not itself grant root code execution.

CVSS severity9.8
Critical
EPSS probability1.63%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper privilege management in Samsung Galaxy Gear firmware before build RE2 allows local users to control the Wi-Fi interface. The wpa_supplicant system service lacks a D-Bus security policy, so it accepts privileged Wi-Fi control requests from any unprivileged process. Process execution on the watch is required; exploitation can change Wi-Fi behavior through the service but does not itself grant root code execution.

The record

CVE
CVE-2018-16272
Published
Jan 22, 2020
Updated
Aug 5, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-269, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 22, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 5, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
9.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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