How severe is CVE-2018-15543?

CVE-2018-15543 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.8, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over physical access with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2018-15543 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (34th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2018-15543?

CVE-2018-15543 affects Telegram. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2018-15543?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

When was CVE-2018-15543 published?

CVE-2018-15543 was published on 2018-10-09 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2018-15543

CVE-2018-15543 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Telegram with a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.8. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-287.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 6.8)
CVSS v2: 4.6
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (34th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-287
Affected product: Telegram
Published: 2018-10-09
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

An issue was discovered in the org.telegram.messenger application 4.8.11 for Android. The FingerprintManager class for Biometric validation allows authentication bypass through the callback method from onAuthenticationFailed to onAuthenticationSucceeded with null, because the fingerprint API in conjunction with the Android keyGenerator class is not implemented. In other words, an attacker could authenticate with an arbitrary fingerprint. NOTE: the vendor indicates that this is not an attack of interest within the context of their threat model, which excludes Android devices on which rooting has occurred

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-15543?: An issue was discovered in the org.telegram.messenger application 4.8.11 for Android. The FingerprintManager class for Biometric validation allows authentication bypass through the callback method from onAuthenticationFailed to onAuthenticationSucceeded with null, because the fingerprint API in conjunction with the Android keyGenerator class is not implemented. In other words, an attacker could authenticate with an arbitrary fingerprint. NOTE: the vendor indicates that this is not an attack of interest within the context of their threat model, which excludes Android devices on which rooting has occurred
How severe is CVE-2018-15543?: CVE-2018-15543 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 6.8, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over physical access with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2018-15543 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (34th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2018-15543?: CVE-2018-15543 affects Telegram. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2018-15543?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
When was CVE-2018-15543 published?: CVE-2018-15543 was published on 2018-10-09 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

https://gist.github.com/tanprathan/d286c0d5b02e344606287774304a1ccd

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:a:telegram:telegram:4.8.11:*:*:*:*:android:*:*

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