CVE-2026-21060 in Samsung
Summary
by MITRE • 08/10/2026
Improper input validation in Samsung Contacts prior to SMR Aug-2026 Release 1 allows physical attackers to access data across multiple user profiles.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/10/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in Samsung Contacts application affecting devices prior to the SMR August 2026 security release. The issue stems from inadequate input validation mechanisms that fail to properly sanitize or verify user-provided data before processing it within the contact management system. Attackers with physical access to affected devices can exploit this weakness to bypass normal access controls and retrieve sensitive information from multiple user profiles stored on the same device.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability lies in the application's failure to enforce proper boundary checks on input parameters used for contact data manipulation. When users interact with the contacts application, particularly during operations involving profile switching or data synchronization, the system does not adequately validate the integrity of input streams. This allows malicious actors to craft specially formatted inputs that manipulate the application's internal state to access unauthorized data from different user accounts.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for users who employ multi-user devices or shared smartphones where multiple profiles exist. Physical attackers with access to such devices can leverage this flaw to extract personal contact information, communication history, and potentially sensitive business data without authentication. The impact extends beyond simple privacy violations to potential identity theft, social engineering attacks, and corporate data breaches when the affected device contains work-related contacts.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-20, which categorizes improper input validation as a fundamental weakness in software design patterns that leads to various security issues including information disclosure. From an attack framework perspective, this flaw maps to techniques described in the ATT&CK matrix under credential access and defense evasion tactics, where attackers can bypass authentication mechanisms through manipulation of application input handling processes.
Organizations should immediately implement the available security patches from Samsung's SMR August 2026 release to resolve this vulnerability. Additional mitigations include enabling device encryption, implementing strong physical security controls for mobile devices, and establishing regular security update policies for all enterprise mobile devices. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive assessments of multi-user device configurations and consider implementing additional access controls or containerization solutions to limit data exposure between user profiles.