CVE-2014-9953
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 · uneditedAn elevation of privilege vulnerability in Qualcomm closed source components. Product: Android. Versions: Android kernel. Android ID: A-36714770.
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 confidenceCVE-2014-9953 is a critical elevation of privilege vulnerability affecting the Android kernel through a Qualcomm closed source component. This vulnerability allows an attacker to gain higher system privileges, potentially leading to complete device compromise.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 version numberGo to Settings > About Phone (or About Device) > Android version. Note the full version number displayed.Affected if Any Android version is potentially affected since all versions are in scope per the CVE.
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Check Security Patch LevelGo to Settings > About Phone (or About Device) > Security patch level. Record the date shown (typically formatted as YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM).Affected if Devices with Security Patch Level prior to the vendor fix date are likely affected. The vulnerability exists in unpatched versions.
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Verify device uses Qualcomm chipsetCheck device specifications or go to Settings > About Phone > Hardware > Processor/ chipset information, or view /proc/cpuinfo to identify the manufacturer.Affected if This vulnerability specifically affects Qualcomm closed source components, so only Qualcomm-based Android devices are in the affected scope.
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Check kernel versionRun 'cat /proc/version' via terminal or ADB shell, or check in Settings > About Phone > Kernel version.Affected if Kernel version alone does not determine vulnerability status; the Security Patch Level is the authoritative indicator.
A user is affected if their Android device uses a Qualcomm chipset and has a Security Patch Level earlier than the vendor-released fix for CVE-2014-9953.
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-specific Android security patch level that addresses this vulnerability. Users should update their devices to the latest available Android version and security patches.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-9953 — 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-2014-9953 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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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.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data