CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2017-5217 — Samsung Samsung Mobile security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.1

Installing a zero-permission Android application on certain Samsung Android devices with KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), and M(6.0) software can continually crash the system_server process in the Android OS. The zero-permission app will create an active install session for a separate app that it has embedded within it. The active install session of the embedded app is performed using the android.content.pm.PackageInstaller class and its nested classes in the Android API. The active install session will write the embedded APK file to the /data/app directory, but the app will not be installed since third-party applications cannot programmatically install apps. Samsung has modified AOSP in order to accelerate the parsing of APKs by introducing the com.android.server.pm.PackagePrefetcher class and its nested classes. These classes will parse the APKs present in the /data/app directory and other directories, even if the app is not actually installed. The embedded APK that was written to the /data/app directory via the active install session has a very large but valid AndroidManifest.xml file. Specifically, the AndroidManifest.xml file contains a very large string value for the name of a permissio…

Severity
High
CVSS
7.1 (2.0)
Published
2017-01-09
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-20, CWE-119

Affected products

  • samsung / samsung_mobile / 4.4
  • samsung / samsung_mobile / 5.0
  • samsung / samsung_mobile / 5.1
  • samsung / samsung_mobile / 6.0

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

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Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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