CVE-2023-42531

Background activity launches via missing access control

Published Nov 7, 2023 · Updated Jun 12, 2025

Improper access control in SmsController on Samsung Mobile Devices running Android 11 through 13 allows local users to start background activities. SmsController fails to enforce access control before permitting background components to start activities, bypassing Android's background-launch restriction. A locally running application can trigger otherwise restricted activity launches without user interaction; Samsung reports availability impact only.

CVSS severity6.2
Medium
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper access control in SmsController on Samsung Mobile Devices running Android 11 through 13 allows local users to start background activities. SmsController fails to enforce access control before permitting background components to start activities, bypassing Android's background-launch restriction. A locally running application can trigger otherwise restricted activity launches without user interaction; Samsung reports availability impact only.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-42531
Published
Nov 7, 2023
Updated
Jun 12, 2025
Vendor
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Product
Samsung Mobile Devices
Classifications
CWE-284
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 7, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 12, 2025Record 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 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

6.2Samsung MobileCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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.

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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-284Improper Access Control

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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