CVE-2023-21480

Local privilege escalation through undisclosed CertByte validation flaw

Published Sep 3, 2025 · Updated Sep 3, 2025

Improper input validation in CertByte on Samsung Mobile Devices before SMR Apr-2023 Release 1 allows local users to gain privileges. Samsung states that CertByte lacked proper validation but has not disclosed the input, entry point, or invalid operation that reaches the privileged activity. The issue is limited to select Android 11, 12, and 13 devices and requires local access; no network exploitation path is reported.

CVSS severity8.5
High
EPSS probability0.13%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper input validation in CertByte on Samsung Mobile Devices before SMR Apr-2023 Release 1 allows local users to gain privileges. Samsung states that CertByte lacked proper validation but has not disclosed the input, entry point, or invalid operation that reaches the privileged activity. The issue is limited to select Android 11, 12, and 13 devices and requires local access; no network exploitation path is reported.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-21480
Published
Sep 3, 2025
Updated
Sep 3, 2025
Vendor
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Product
Samsung Mobile Devices
Classifications
CWE-20, T1404
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 3, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 3, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. · Samsung Mobile DevicesAffected versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

8.5Samsung MobileCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L
7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-20Improper Input Validation
T1404Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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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