CVE-2026-21021

Physical privileged activity launch via unchecked input

Published May 13, 2026 · Updated May 13, 2026

Improper input validation in Samsung Routines on Android 16 before SMR May-2026 Release 1 allows physical attackers to launch privileged activity. Samsung states only that Routines lacks proper input checking and does not identify the input, code locus, or privileged activity reached. Exploitation requires physical access to an affected device; the published consequence is limited to launching activity with elevated privilege.

CVSS severity5.1
Medium
EPSS probability0.21%
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 Samsung Routines on Android 16 before SMR May-2026 Release 1 allows physical attackers to launch privileged activity. Samsung states only that Routines lacks proper input checking and does not identify the input, code locus, or privileged activity reached. Exploitation requires physical access to an affected device; the published consequence is limited to launching activity with elevated privilege.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-21021
Published
May 13, 2026
Updated
May 13, 2026
Vendor
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Product
Samsung Mobile Devices
Classifications
CWE-20, T1404
Attack vector
physical
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 13, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 13, 2026Record 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 vectorphysical
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

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

Published CVSS scores

6.8NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
5.1Samsung MobileCVSS:4.0/AV:P/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

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)
Vectorphysical
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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