Medium

Extend Unlock Bypass in Samsung Bluetooth Maintenance Mode

IdentifiersCVE-2026-21011CWE-266

CVE-2026-21011 is an incorrect privilege assignment vulnerability in the Bluetooth component when a Samsung device is operating in Maintenance mode. It affects Samsung devices running Android 14, 15, and 16 prior to Security Maintenance Release (SMR) April 2026 Release 1. Due to improper privilege assignment, a physical attacker can abuse Bluetooth-related behavior in Maintenance mode to bypass the Extend Unlock protection mechanism. Samsung addressed the issue by adding proper privilege assignment.

For your environment

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows a physical attacker to bypass Extend Unlock on an affected Samsung device. This weakens the intended device security boundary and can permit unauthorized access to a device state that should remain protected by the lock and trust model enforced by Extend Unlock.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Until patches are applied, reduce opportunities for physical access to affected devices, avoid placing sensitive devices into Maintenance mode unless operationally necessary, and enforce compensating physical security controls. Where possible, restrict unattended access to devices and apply vendor security updates promptly.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Update affected Samsung devices to SMR April 2026 Release 1 or later. Samsung's fix adds proper privilege assignment in the Bluetooth component used in Maintenance mode.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 1 candidate as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 1 TOTALView more in app

All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

Samsung ElectronicsAndroidoperating_system

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

2 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

2 SOURCESView more in app

samsung mobile securityNews

Jan 17, 2022

Security Updates Firmware Updates | Samsung Mobile Security

An incorrect privilege assignment vulnerability in Bluetooth during Maintenance mode that allows physical attackers to bypass Extend Unlock on Samsung devices running Android 14, 15, and 16 prior to SMR Apr-2026 Release 1.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity