CVE-2016-6527 in Note
Summary
by MITRE
The SmartCall Activity component in Telecom application on Samsung Note device L(5.0/5.1) and M(6.0) allows attackers to cause a denial of service (crash and reboot) or possibly gain privileges via a malformed serializable object.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/13/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-6527 resides within the SmartCall Activity component of Samsung's telecommunications application, specifically affecting devices running android versions lollipop 5.0 and 5.1 as well as marshmallow 6.0. This flaw represents a critical security weakness that enables attackers to manipulate the application's behavior through crafted input data. The vulnerability manifests in the handling of serializable objects within the SmartCall activity, which is a core component responsible for managing telephony-related functions and user interactions. The affected Samsung Note devices represent a significant portion of the mobile market during these android versions, making this vulnerability particularly impactful across a wide user base.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the SmartCall Activity component's deserialization process. When the application processes a malformed serializable object, the system fails to properly validate the object structure before attempting to deserialize it. This allows attackers to craft specially designed objects that contain malicious payloads or invalid data structures that trigger unexpected behavior in the application's memory management system. The vulnerability falls under the category of improper input validation as defined by CWE-20, where the application does not adequately sanitize input data before processing. The flaw specifically involves the java serialization mechanism, which is commonly used for object persistence and inter-process communication within android applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service conditions to potentially enable privilege escalation attacks. When an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, the targeted application crashes and reboots the device, causing immediate disruption to the user's telephony services. However, the more concerning aspect is the potential for privilege escalation, where attackers could leverage the deserialization flaw to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges. This capability would allow unauthorized access to sensitive telephony functions, potentially enabling eavesdropping, call interception, or modification of critical telephony data. The attack vector requires minimal user interaction as the malicious object could be delivered through various means including SMS messages, MMS content, or malicious applications that interact with the telephony framework. According to the attack technique framework, this vulnerability aligns with T1068 (Exploitation for Privilege Escalation) and T1499 (Endpoint Denial of Service) within the MITRE ATT&CK matrix.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate attention from both device manufacturers and end users. Samsung should implement proper input validation mechanisms within the SmartCall Activity component to prevent deserialization of malformed objects, including implementing strict type checking and bounds validation during the serialization process. The recommended approach involves applying the principle of least privilege by restricting the application's access to system resources and implementing secure deserialization practices that reject potentially malicious input data. Users should apply security patches promptly when released by Samsung, as these updates typically include fixes for the deserialization vulnerability. Organizations deploying mobile device management solutions should consider implementing application blacklisting policies for affected versions of the telecom application until proper patches are applied. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of secure coding practices in mobile applications, particularly regarding serialization and deserialization operations, which should be validated against industry standards such as those outlined in the OWASP Mobile Top 10 and the Android Security Best Practices documentation.