CVE-2014-9795
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 · uneditedapp/aboot/aboot.c in the Qualcomm components in Android before 2016-07-05 on Nexus 5 devices does not properly check for an integer overflow, which allows attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via crafted start and size values, aka Android internal bug 28820720 and Qualcomm internal bug CR681957, a related issue to CVE-2014-4325.
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 confidenceInteger overflow vulnerability in the aboot bootloader (app/aboot/aboot.c) in Qualcomm components for Android on Nexus 5 devices. The code fails to properly validate start and size values, allowing crafted values to trigger integer overflow that bypasses intended access restrictions.
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 Security Patch LevelGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version or Security patch level. Alternatively, run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to see the installed patch level.Affected if The security patch level is earlier than 2016-07-05 or is not displayed (indicating an unpatched bootloader)
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Verify device model and chipsetCheck if the device is a Nexus 5 (hammerhead) or other Qualcomm-based Android device. Run 'adb shell getprop ro.product.device' and 'adb shell getprop ro.hardware' to identify the device and chipset.Affected if The device is a Nexus 5 (hammerhead) or uses Qualcomm Snapdragon hardware with the aboot bootloader
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Check bootloader version via fastbootBoot the device into fastboot mode (power + volume down), then connect to a computer and run 'fastboot getvar all' to retrieve bootloader version information.Affected if The bootloader version corresponds to a build before the July 2016 security update
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Identify aboot bootloader versionRun 'fastboot getvar version-bootloader' to retrieve the specific bootloader version string. This version is found in the aboot.c source and correlates to the vulnerable code path.Affected if The bootloader version is unpatched and matches the vulnerable release timeline (pre-July 2016)
A user is affected if running Android 6.0.1 or earlier on a Nexus 5 or Qualcomm-based device with a bootloader version predating the July 2016 security patch level.
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 Android security patch level 2016-07-05 or later for Nexus 5 devices. This requires a system/firmware update as the vulnerability exists in the bootloader code and cannot be mitigated through application-level changes.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-9795 — 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-2014-9795 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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