CVE-2025-58480: Samsung Android Buffer Overflow Flaw

CVE-2025-58480 Overview

CVE-2025-58480 is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in libimagecodec.quram.so, a shared library component used for image processing on Samsung Android devices. This high-severity flaw allows remote attackers to access out-of-bounds memory, potentially leading to information disclosure of sensitive data stored in device memory.

The vulnerability exists in Samsung's proprietary image codec library and affects multiple versions of Samsung Android across versions 13.0, 14.0, 15.0, and 16.0 prior to the SMR Dec-2025 Release 1 security patch. With a CVSS score of 7.5 and a network-based attack vector requiring no user interaction or authentication, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to millions of Samsung mobile device users worldwide.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can exploit this heap-based buffer overflow to read sensitive data from out-of-bounds memory regions without authentication, potentially exposing user credentials, cryptographic keys, or other confidential information processed by image handling routines.

Affected Products

• Samsung Android 13.0 (all SMR releases prior to Dec-2025 Release 1)
• Samsung Android 14.0 (all SMR releases prior to Dec-2025 Release 1)
• Samsung Android 15.0 (all SMR releases prior to Dec-2025 Release 1)
• Samsung Android 16.0 (all SMR releases prior to Dec-2025 Release 1)

Discovery Timeline

• December 2, 2025 - CVE-2025-58480 published to NVD
• December 5, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-58480

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), though the description indicates it enables out-of-bounds memory read access. The heap-based buffer overflow occurs within libimagecodec.quram.so, Samsung's proprietary image codec library developed by Quram Co., Ltd. for handling image encoding and decoding operations on Android devices.

The CVSS:3.1 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N indicates:

• Attack Vector (AV:N): Exploitable remotely over the network
• Attack Complexity (AC:L): Low complexity, straightforward to exploit
• Privileges Required (PR:N): No authentication needed
• User Interaction (UI:N): No user interaction required
• Confidentiality Impact (C:H): High confidentiality impact, significant data exposure

The vulnerability carries an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) probability of 0.046%, placing it in the 14th percentile, indicating a relatively low likelihood of exploitation in the wild based on current threat intelligence.

Root Cause

The root cause lies in improper bounds checking within the image codec library's memory handling routines. When processing specially crafted image data, the library fails to properly validate buffer boundaries during heap memory operations. This allows memory read operations to extend beyond the allocated buffer space, accessing adjacent heap memory regions that may contain sensitive application or system data.

Heap-based buffer overflows in image processing libraries are particularly dangerous because image files are commonly transmitted over networks, shared via messaging applications, and automatically processed by email clients, gallery apps, and web browsers—creating numerous attack surfaces.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely without requiring authentication or user interaction. An attacker can deliver a maliciously crafted image file to a target device through various channels:

1. Web-based delivery: Embedding malicious images in web pages that trigger automatic decoding
2. Messaging applications: Sending crafted images through SMS/MMS, messaging apps, or email
3. Social engineering: Distributing malicious images through social media or file-sharing platforms
4. Network interception: Replacing legitimate images during transit (MITM scenarios)

When the vulnerable libimagecodec.quram.so library processes the malicious image, the heap buffer overflow is triggered, allowing the attacker to read sensitive information from memory regions adjacent to the allocated buffer. This could include authentication tokens, encryption keys, user credentials, or other sensitive data being processed by the application.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-58480

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual memory access patterns or crashes in image processing applications
• Abnormal network traffic involving image file transfers from untrusted sources
• Application crashes or ANR (Application Not Responding) events in Gallery, Camera, or messaging apps
• Memory corruption artifacts in system logs related to libimagecodec.quram.so
• Unexpected data exfiltration following image processing operations

Detection Strategies

Organizations can implement the following detection strategies:

1. Mobile Device Management (MDM): Monitor device patch levels and flag devices running SMR releases prior to December 2025
2. Network Traffic Analysis: Inspect image file transfers for anomalous headers or suspicious payload sizes that may indicate exploit attempts
3. Application Behavior Monitoring: Track memory allocation patterns and detect abnormal heap operations during image processing
4. Crash Analytics: Correlate application crashes involving image codec libraries with potential exploitation attempts

SentinelOne's mobile threat defense capabilities can identify and block exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability through behavioral analysis and memory protection mechanisms.

Monitoring Recommendations

Security teams should implement comprehensive monitoring for Samsung Android devices within their environment:

• Enable verbose logging for image processing operations where available
• Monitor for unusual patterns of image file access or processing
• Track device-level security patch status through enterprise MDM solutions
• Implement network-level inspection for suspicious image file characteristics
• Configure alerting for multiple consecutive crashes in media processing components

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-58480

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply the Samsung SMR Dec-2025 Release 1 security update to all affected devices immediately
• Enforce device compliance policies requiring the December 2025 security patch level
• Restrict automatic image processing from untrusted sources where possible
• Consider blocking image downloads from untrusted networks until patches are applied
• Deploy mobile threat defense solutions capable of detecting exploitation attempts

Patch Information

Samsung has addressed this vulnerability in the SMR Dec-2025 Release 1 security maintenance release. The patch is available for Samsung Android versions 13.0, 14.0, 15.0, and 16.0. Organizations should consult Samsung's security advisory for detailed patch information and deployment guidance.

Security Advisory: Samsung Mobile Security Update - December 2025

Device administrators can verify patch status by navigating to Settings > About phone > Software information and checking that the security patch level shows December 2025 or later.

Workarounds

Until patches can be applied, organizations should consider the following risk mitigation strategies:

• Limit automatic image downloading in messaging and email applications
• Configure network policies to scan image files at the perimeter
• Educate users about the risks of opening images from untrusted sources
• Implement application sandboxing where available to limit memory access
• Consider temporary restrictions on MMS and rich messaging features for high-security environments

# Check Android security patch level via ADB
adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch

# Expected output for patched devices:
# 2025-12-01 or later

# List devices with outdated patches in an MDM environment
# (Implementation varies by MDM solution - consult vendor documentation)