CVE-2017-5217

Home/CVE/Installing a zero-permission Android application on certain Samsung Android devices with KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), and M(6.0)

CVE

Installing a zero-permission Android application on certain Samsung Android devices with KK(4.4), L(5.0/5.1), and M(6.0)

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 permission-tree that it declares. When system_server tries to parse the APK file of the embedded app from the active install session, it will crash due to an uncaught error (i.e., java.lang.OutOfMemoryError) or an uncaught exception (i.e., std::bad_alloc) because of memory constraints.

The Samsung Android device will encounter a soft reboot due to a system_server crash, and this action will keep repeating since parsing the APKs in the /data/app directory as performed by the system_server process is part of the normal boot process. The Samsung ID is SVE-2016-6917.

MEDIUM · CVSS 5.5 EPSS 0.00798

Monitor

No active-exploitation, high-EPSS, or public-exploit signals - routine patching cadence

Sigma rules0 YARA rules0

Look this up elsewhere - one-click external pivots

NVD CVE.org CISA Vulners Exploit-DB GitHub PoC VulnCheck KEV GreyNoise

▸ How to read a CVE - triage first, then detect and patch

This page is every public fact about CVE-2017-5217, cross-linked. Its job is to answer one question fast - does this need my attention now? - and then hand you the two things you do about it. Here is how an analyst reads it.

Triage: should I act now? Four signals, and they are not interchangeable:

CVSSseverity - how bad it is IF exploited, 0-10. A high CVSS alone is not urgency; a flaw can be a perfect 10 and never actually be attacked. EPSSprobability - a model’s estimate of the chance it is exploited in the next 30 days, 0-1. This is the “will it actually happen” signal. CISA KEVconfirmed - it is being exploited in the wild right now. The strongest signal on the page; KEV beats any score. Weaponisedavailability - public exploits / PoCs, and especially Metasploit modules rated Excellent / Great. Reliable, packaged exploit code means low-skill attackers can use it today.

How they combine: KEV, or a dependable Metasploit module, means patch now regardless of CVSS. High CVSS + low EPSS + no exploit is real but not an emergency - schedule it. Low CVSS but KEV-listed still gets patched now. The verdict above already weighed these for you; this is how it got there.

Then what - two workflows:

Detectwhen you cannot patch today, follow this CVE to the ATT&CK techniques it enables, then Build a SIEM detection (the green button) - author a rule, test it in Atomic, deploy it. That buys visibility while the patch waits. PatchAffected products / packages tell you if you are exposed; Fixed versions by distribution and Vendor advisories give the exact version that closes it.

Reading order for the panels below: verdict + badges, then Public exploits / Metasploit (is it weaponised), then ATT&CK techniques + Sigma / IDS rules (can I detect it), then Affected products / packages + Fixed versions (am I exposed, what patches it), then Threat actors / IOCs (who uses it), then Scoring & timeline / references (the evidence).

View attack path from CVE-2017-5217

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