Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-21031

LPE in Samsung Android 13.0 … 16.0

Published
03 September 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0013 3th percentile
Risk Priority 37 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-21031 is a medium-severity Improper Access Control (CWE-284) vulnerability in Samsung Android. Its CVSS base score is 6.8 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 3th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Improper access control in ImsService prior to SMR Sep-2025 Release 1 allows local attackers to use the privileged APIs.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-21490Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21495Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21442Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21493Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21488Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21427Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21491Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21457Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21445Same product: Samsung Android
CVE-2023-21438Same product: Samsung Android

Affected Assets

samsung
android
13.0, 14.0, 15.0, 16.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • AC-25 Reference Monitor
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 8 hardening rules · 4 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V10.3.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces authorization checks before allowing access to privileged ImsService APIs, preventing the exact improper access control flaw.

prevent

Requires that only processes with explicit need operate with the elevated privileges needed to invoke the affected APIs.

prevent

Provides the reference-monitor mechanism that should mediate all calls to privileged service APIs and block unauthorized local use.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

PR.AA-05 directly enforces policy-based access management and least privilege, eliminating most improper-access-control defects, yet CWE-284 also covers implementation flaws and design gaps outside a single management control.

PR.PS-01 mostly match
prevents

Hardened baselines and deviation monitoring directly eliminate most configuration-induced access-control defects, yet CWE-284 also encompasses code-level and design flaws outside the scope of configuration management alone.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices catch most access-control defects during design/coding/testing (mostly), yet leave residual risk from runtime configuration, architecture, and operational controls (partial).

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

PR.AA-01 supplies managed identities/credentials that support but do not implement access-control decisions, so it only partially prevents CWE-284 in either direction.

PR.AA-03 partial match
prevents

Authentication directly blocks unauthenticated actors (partial prevention of CWE-284) but leaves authorization logic, policy enforcement, and role checks untouched, so the control neither eliminates nor fully mitigates the broader weakness.

PR.DS-01 partial match
prevents

PR.DS-01 encryption mitigates impact of failed access checks on stored data but neither implements nor constrains access-control logic itself.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

prevents

Defining and enforcing explicit access rights and restrictions for each entity directly stops the assignment of permissions that exceed what is required, eliminating the root condition that allows improper access control.

prevents

Formal authorization, role-based provisioning, and timely revocation of access rights directly stop the creation of accounts or permissions that exceed what the business actually needs.

prevents

By enforcing explicit rules on which identities or groups may perform read, write, delete or execute operations and by denying anonymous access to sensitive data, the control directly stops the creation of overly permissive or missing access-control checks.

prevents

Requiring one-to-one mapping of identities to entities and timely removal of unused identities directly stops attackers from leveraging stale or shared accounts to bypass access restrictions.

prevents

By explicitly transferring security roles and responsibilities when personnel change jobs or leave, the control reduces the chance that former employees retain access rights they no longer need, thereby limiting improper access control.

prevents

Physical entry controls enforce explicit authorization and authentication at every access point, directly stopping unauthorized actors from reaching information-processing assets.

References