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 third-party image decoding library shipped with Samsung Android devices. The flaw allows remote attackers to access out-of-bounds heap memory when the library processes a crafted image. Samsung addressed the issue in the SMR Dec-2025 Release 1 security maintenance release. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) and affects Samsung Android versions 13, 14, 15, and 16 prior to the December 2025 patch level.

Critical Impact

Remote attackers can trigger out-of-bounds heap memory access on unpatched Samsung devices over the network without user interaction or privileges, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents.

Affected Products

• Samsung Android 13 (all SMR releases prior to Dec-2025 R1)
• Samsung Android 14 (all SMR releases prior to Dec-2025 R1)
• Samsung Android 15 and 16 (releases prior to Dec-2025 R1)

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-12-02 - CVE-2025-58480 published to the National Vulnerability Database
• December 2025 - Samsung releases SMR Dec-2025 Release 1 security patch
• 2025-12-05 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-58480

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in libimagecodec.quram.so, a native shared library developed by Quramsoft and used by Samsung Android for decoding image formats. Heap-based buffer overflows in image parsers typically arise when the library trusts header-supplied dimensions, offsets, or chunk sizes and allocates a buffer that is smaller than the data subsequently written or read. An attacker crafts a malformed image that bypasses input validation, causing the decoder to write beyond the bounds of an allocated heap chunk.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper bounds checking during image decoding within libimagecodec.quram.so. Samsung's advisory categorizes the flaw as a heap-based buffer overflow leading to out-of-bounds memory access [CWE-787]. Native image codecs operate on attacker-controlled binary structures, and missing or insufficient validation of size or offset fields allows the decoder to corrupt adjacent heap metadata or neighboring allocations.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires no privileges or user interaction. An attacker delivers a crafted image to the target device through any channel that triggers automatic image parsing, including multimedia messaging, instant messaging apps that auto-render previews, email clients, or web content. When the affected library decodes the malicious image, the out-of-bounds operation executes in the context of the rendering process.

No public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. Refer to the Samsung Security Update December 2025 advisory for vendor-supplied technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-58480

Indicators of Compromise

• Repeated crashes or tombstone files referencing libimagecodec.quram.so in /data/tombstones/ on Samsung devices
• Unexpected process termination of system_server, messaging applications, or gallery apps when handling inbound images
• Inbound MMS, RCS, or messaging attachments containing malformed image files with anomalous header fields

Detection Strategies

• Monitor mobile device management (MDM) telemetry for Samsung devices running build numbers below the SMR Dec-2025 R1 patch level
• Inspect application crash logs for SIGSEGV or SIGABRT signals originating from the Quram image codec library
• Apply network-layer scanning on MMS and messaging gateways to flag images with malformed metadata or non-conforming chunk structures

Monitoring Recommendations

• Track Samsung security patch level (ro.build.version.security_patch) across the device fleet and alert on devices below 2025-12-01
• Correlate image-processing crashes with subsequent anomalous network or process behavior to identify exploitation attempts
• Enable enterprise mobile threat defense logging for image-based attack telemetry on managed Samsung devices

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-58480

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply the Samsung SMR Dec-2025 Release 1 security maintenance release to all affected Samsung Android 13, 14, 15, and 16 devices
• Enforce minimum patch level policies through MDM to block or restrict devices below the December 2025 security patch level
• Educate users to avoid opening unsolicited image attachments from unknown senders until patching is complete

Patch Information

Samsung released the fix in the SMR Dec-2025 Release 1 update. Device owners should install the December 2025 Samsung security update via Settings > Software update > Download and install. Full advisory details are available at the Samsung Security Update December 2025 bulletin.

Workarounds

• Disable auto-retrieval of MMS messages in the default messaging application to prevent automatic decoding of attacker-supplied images
• Disable automatic image previews and downloads in messaging and email clients on unpatched devices
• Restrict installation of untrusted applications and limit exposure to attacker-controlled web content until the patch is applied

# Verify current Samsung security patch level via ADB
adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch
# Patched devices should report 2025-12-01 or later