CVE-2014-9777
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 · uneditedThe vid_dec_set_meta_buffers function in drivers/video/msm/vidc/common/dec/vdec.c in the Qualcomm components in Android before 2016-07-05 on Nexus 5 and 7 (2013) devices does not validate the number of buffers, which allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka Android internal bug 28598501 and Qualcomm internal bug CR563654.
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 · moderate confidenceA buffer count validation vulnerability in the vid_dec_set_meta_buffers function within Qualcomm's video decoder driver (vdec.c) allows a malicious application to trigger the vulnerability without proper bounds checking on buffer quantities, potentially leading to privilege escalation. The lack of input validation on the number of buffers could enable a local attacker to corrupt memory or achieve elevated privileges.
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<= 6.0.1CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Android versionRetrieve the Android OS version from the device settings or via 'getprop ro.build.version.release' commandAffected if The version is 6.0.1 or earlier (6.0, 5.x, 4.x, etc.)
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Identify the SoC manufacturerCheck the device's system-on-chip (SoC) information through device specs or via 'getprop ro.hardware' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo'Affected if The device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, as the vulnerability exists in Qualcomm's video decoder driver
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Confirm video decoder driver presenceCheck if the video decoder driver module (vdec) is loaded on the system - this may be visible in /proc/modules, kernel logs, or driver configurationAffected if The Qualcomm video decoder driver (vdec) is present and active on the device
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Verify the affected function existsExamine the video decoder driver binary or its configuration to confirm the vid_dec_set_meta_buffers function is implementedAffected if The vid_dec_set_meta_buffers function exists in the video decoder driver component
A device is affected if it runs Android 6.0.1 or earlier, contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC, and has the Qualcomm video decoder driver with the vulnerable vid_dec_set_meta_buffers function present and enabled.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply the vendor patch from the 2016-07-05 Android security bulletin for Nexus 5 and 7 (2013) devices, which adds proper validation of buffer counts in the affected video decoder driver code.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,080.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-9777 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-9777 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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