CVE-2025-52515 – A race condition vulnerability in the issimian ... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2025-52515?

CVE-2025-52515 has a CVSS score of 5.1 (MEDIUM). A race condition vulnerability in the issimian device driver for Samsung Exynos processors allows out-of-bounds memory access when using the camera. This affects Samsung mobile and wearable devices with Exynos 1330, 1380, 1480, 2400, 1580, or 2500 processors. Successful exploitation can cause denial of service.

📋 TL;DR

A race condition vulnerability in the issimian device driver for Samsung Exynos processors allows out-of-bounds memory access when using the camera. This affects Samsung mobile and wearable devices with Exynos 1330, 1380, 1480, 2400, 1580, or 2500 processors. Successful exploitation can cause denial of service.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Samsung Galaxy smartphones with Exynos 1330
Samsung Galaxy smartphones with Exynos 1380
Samsung Galaxy smartphones with Exynos 1480
Samsung Galaxy smartphones with Exynos 2400
Samsung Galaxy smartphones with Exynos 1580
Samsung Galaxy smartphones with Exynos 2500
Samsung wearable devices with affected Exynos processors

Versions: All versions prior to security patch containing fix

Operating Systems: Android with Samsung One UI

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Vulnerability exists in the camera hardware driver, so all devices with affected processors are vulnerable regardless of Android version or configuration.

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Device becomes completely unresponsive requiring hardware reset, potentially causing permanent damage to camera hardware components.

🟠

Likely Case

Camera application crashes or becomes unusable, requiring device reboot to restore functionality.

🟢

If Mitigated

Camera functionality temporarily disrupted but device remains operational with other features intact.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - This is a local hardware driver vulnerability requiring physical device access or malicious app installation.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Could be exploited by malicious apps on corporate devices to disrupt camera functionality.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: HIGH - Requires precise timing to trigger race condition and out-of-bounds access.

Exploitation requires local access to device and ability to run code that interacts with camera driver. No remote exploitation vectors identified.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Samsung security patch containing fix for CVE-2025-52515

Vendor Advisory: https://semiconductor.samsung.com/support/quality-support/product-security-updates/cve-2025-52515/

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Check for Samsung security updates in device Settings > Software update. 2. Download and install latest security patch. 3. Reboot device after installation completes. 4. Verify patch is applied by checking security patch level in Settings > About phone > Software information.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable camera permissions

android

Prevent apps from accessing camera to reduce attack surface

adb shell pm revoke <package_name> android.permission.CAMERA

Restrict camera usage

all

Use device management policies to control camera access

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement mobile device management (MDM) to control app installation and camera permissions
Educate users about risks of installing untrusted applications that could exploit this vulnerability

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check device processor model in Settings > About phone > Hardware information, then verify if security patch level is older than the fix release date.

Check Version:

adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify security patch date in Settings > About phone > Software information is after the fix release date (check Samsung security bulletin).

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Kernel panic logs related to issimian driver
Camera service crash logs
Out-of-bounds memory access errors in kernel logs

Network Indicators:

None - this is a local vulnerability

SIEM Query:

source="android_logs" AND ("issimian" OR "camera_crash" OR "kernel_panic")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2025-52515

CVSS v3 Score: 5.1 (MEDIUM)

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

CWE: CWE-362

EPSS Score: 0.02% exploit probability (3.7th percentile)

Published: January 5, 2026

Last Updated: January 9, 2026

🔗 References

https://semiconductor.samsung.com/support/quality-support/product-security-updates/ Vendor Advisory
https://semiconductor.samsung.com/support/quality-support/product-security-updates/cve-2025-52515/ Vendor Advisory

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