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ThermaldApplication · Intel

CVE-2014-2312

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-03-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.8 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The main function in android_main.cpp in thermald allows local users to write to arbitrary files via a symlink attack on /tmp/thermald.pid.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The thermald daemon for Android has a symlink vulnerability in its main function (android_main.cpp). The daemon writes its PID to /tmp/thermald.pid without validating whether the target is a symlink, allowing a local attacker to create a symlink at that path and cause arbitrary file overwrites when thermald starts.

MitigationReplace the vulnerable PID file write with secure file creation: use open() with O_NOFOLLOW flag, check if the path is a symlink before writing, or use mkstemp() to create a safe temporary file with proper permissions in a protected directory.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
ThermaldApplication
Affected:< 1.8

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if thermald is installed
    Run 'which thermald' or look for the thermald binary in common paths like /system/bin/, /vendor/bin/, or /sbin/
    Affected if thermald binary exists on the system and is running or can be run
  2. Identify thermald version
    Run 'thermald --version' or check the APK/system package version information for Intel Thermald
    Affected if version is less than 1.8 (e.g., 1.0, 1.5, 1.7)
  3. Check PID file path configuration
    Inspect the thermald source code (android_main.cpp) or runtime behavior - look for writes to /tmp/thermald.pid without O_NOFOLLOW flag or symlink pre-check
    Affected if thermald writes PID to /tmp/thermald.pid without validating the target is not a symlink
  4. Verify execution context
    Check if thermald runs with elevated privileges (as root) and if /tmp is world-writable
    Affected if thermald runs as root and /tmp directory allows untrusted users to create symlinks

A system is affected if it runs Intel Thermald version below 1.8 that writes its PID to /tmp/thermald.pid without symlink checks, and an attacker can place a symlink in /tmp before thermald starts.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.8 or later
Fixed in 1.8
Interim mitigation

Replace the vulnerable PID file write with secure file creation: use open() with O_NOFOLLOW flag, check if the path is a symlink before writing, or use mkstemp() to create a safe temporary file with proper permissions in a protected directory.

Fix this in Thermald Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-2312 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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