📄 Description (English)
Samsung Mobile Devices Improper Access Control Vulnerability — Samsung mobile devices using Mali GPU contains an improper access control vulnerability in sec_log file. Exploitation of the vulnerability exposes sensitive kernel information to the userspace. This vulnerability was chained with CVE-2021-25337 and CVE-2021-25370.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2021-25369 is a critical improper access control vulnerability in Samsung mobile devices' Mali GPU driver that exposes sensitive kernel information to unprivileged userspace processes. With a CVSS score of 9.0 and publicly available exploits, this vulnerability poses an immediate threat to confidentiality and can be chained with other CVEs for privilege escalation attacks. Samsung has released patches, but widespread adoption remains critical given the large installed base of affected devices in Saudi Arabia.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 20, 2026 06:38
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability significantly impacts Saudi Arabia's mobile-dependent sectors, particularly banking and financial services where Samsung devices are prevalent for mobile banking and transaction processing. Government agencies using Samsung devices for secure communications face risks of kernel information disclosure. Telecommunications sector (STC, Mobily, Zain) is affected as both service providers and users. Healthcare sector utilizing Samsung devices for patient data access and telemedicine faces confidentiality breaches. The vulnerability's chainability with CVE-2021-25337 and CVE-2021-25370 enables complete device compromise, making it particularly dangerous for organizations handling sensitive data.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Banking and Financial Services
Government and Public Administration
Telecommunications
Healthcare and Medical Services
Energy and Utilities
Retail and E-commerce
Education
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
8.7
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
Immediate Actions:
1. Identify all Samsung mobile devices in your organization and create an inventory by model and Android version
2. Disable Mali GPU access for non-essential applications through device management policies
3. Restrict userspace access to /proc/sec_log and similar kernel debug interfaces via SELinux policies
4. Implement mobile device management (MDM) solutions to enforce security policies
Patching Guidance:
1. Check Samsung Security Updates page for your device model and apply latest security patches immediately
2. Prioritize devices handling sensitive data (banking, government, healthcare)
3. For devices no longer receiving updates, consider device replacement or retirement
4. Test patches in non-production environment before enterprise rollout
Compensating Controls:
1. Implement strict application whitelisting to prevent malicious apps from accessing GPU drivers
2. Enable SELinux in enforcing mode to restrict kernel information exposure
3. Deploy mobile threat defense (MTD) solutions to detect exploitation attempts
4. Monitor for suspicious kernel information access patterns
5. Implement network segmentation to limit lateral movement if device is compromised
6. Use containerization/Knox security features to isolate sensitive applications
Detection Rules:
1. Monitor for unauthorized access to /proc/sec_log and /sys/kernel/debug paths
2. Alert on Mali GPU driver ioctl calls from unprivileged processes
3. Track privilege escalation attempts following kernel information disclosure
4. Monitor for CVE-2021-25337 and CVE-2021-25370 exploitation indicators
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع أجهزة سامسونج المحمولة في مؤسستك وإنشاء قائمة جرد حسب الموديل وإصدار Android
2. تعطيل وصول Mali GPU للتطبيقات غير الأساسية من خلال سياسات إدارة الأجهزة
3. تقييد وصول userspace إلى /proc/sec_log والواجهات المماثلة من خلال سياسات SELinux
4. تنفيذ حلول إدارة أجهزة الجوال (MDM) لفرض سياسات الأمان
إرشادات التصحيح:
1. تحقق من صفحة تحديثات أمان سامسونج لموديل جهازك وطبق أحدث التصحيحات الأمنية فوراً
2. أعط الأولوية للأجهزة التي تتعامل مع بيانات حساسة (البنوك والحكومة والرعاية الصحية)
3. بالنسبة للأجهزة التي لم تعد تتلقى تحديثات، فكر في استبدال الجهاز أو إيقافه
4. اختبر التصحيحات في بيئة غير الإنتاج قبل النشر على مستوى المؤسسة
الضوابط البديلة:
1. تنفيذ قائمة بيضاء صارمة للتطبيقات لمنع التطبيقات الضارة من الوصول إلى محركات GPU
2. تفعيل SELinux في وضع الفرض لتقييد كشف معلومات النواة
3. نشر حلول الدفاع ضد التهديدات المحمولة (MTD) للكشف عن محاولات الاستغلال
4. مراقبة الأنماط المريبة للوصول إلى معلومات النواة
5. تنفيذ تقسيم الشبكة لتحديد الحركة الجانبية إذا تم اختراق الجهاز
6. استخدام ميزات الحاويات/Knox الأمنية لعزل التطبيقات الحساسة
قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة الوصول غير المصرح به إلى مسارات /proc/sec_log و /sys/kernel/debug
2. تنبيه استدعاءات Mali GPU driver ioctl من العمليات غير المميزة
3. تتبع محاولات رفع الامتيازات بعد كشف معلومات النواة
4. مراقبة مؤشرات استغلال CVE-2021-25337 و CVE-2021-25370
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
5.1.1 - Information Security Policies and Procedures
5.2.1 - Access Control Implementation
5.3.1 - Cryptography and Data Protection
5.4.1 - Vulnerability Management
5.5.1 - Incident Response and Management
🔵 SAMA CSF
Governance (GV) - Security Policy and Risk Management
Identify (ID) - Asset Management and Vulnerability Management
Protect (PR) - Access Control and Data Protection
Detect (DE) - Security Monitoring and Anomaly Detection
Respond (RS) - Incident Response Procedures
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.5.1 - Policies for information security
A.6.1 - Organization of information security
A.8.1 - Asset management
A.9.1 - Access control
A.12.6 - Management of technical vulnerabilities
A.14.2 - Information security requirements in supplier relationships
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
Requirement 2 - Default security parameters
Requirement 6.2 - Security patches and updates
Requirement 7 - Restrict access to data
Requirement 11.2 - Vulnerability scanning
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Samsung:Mobile Devices