CVE-2015-3869
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 · uneditedlibstagefright in Android before 5.1.1 LMY48T allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted media file, aka internal bug 23036083.
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 confidenceA memory corruption vulnerability exists in libstagefright, Android's media processing library, where crafted media files can trigger heap overflow conditions during parsing, allowing remote attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution or cause denial of service.
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<= 5.1CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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 OS versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Build Number, or run `adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release`Affected if Version is 5.1 or earlier (5.1.1_r1 through 5.1 are vulnerable; 5.1.1 LMY48T or later contains the fix)
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Verify the security patch levelRun `adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch` or check Settings > About Phone > Android security patch levelAffected if Patch level is earlier than the 2015-09-01 security update or is blank/unset
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Confirm libstagefright library is presentRun `adb shell ls -la /system/lib/libstagefright.so`Affected if The library file exists (it is present by default in Android 5.0-5.1 and is the vulnerable component)
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Check if media handling is enabled in vulnerable applicationsReview app permissions for apps that handle media (e.g., Messaging, Browser, Gallery) in Settings > Apps > Permissions, or check if default handlers for media MIME types are setAffected if Apps have permission to receive or auto-download media files (vulnerability is triggered when parsing crafted media content)
A device is affected if it runs Android 5.1 or earlier and has not received the September 2015 security patch (5.1.1 LMY48T or later), with libstagefright present and media handling 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.
dbcve · scopedApply Android system updates (5.1.1 LMY48T or later) or install vendor-specific security patches to address the libstagefright vulnerability; consider disabling automatic media download handling in vulnerable applications as an interim measure.
Android 5.1.1 LMY48T or later
- Check the current Android version by navigating to Settings > About Phone
- If the version is Android 5.1 or lower (before LMY48T), apply the available system update from Settings > About Phone > System Updates
- Install Android 5.1.1 LMY48T or later which contains the libstagefright security patch
- If the device manufacturer no longer provides updates, consider upgrading to a newer Android device that receives regular security updates
- Alternatively, disable auto-fetching of media files from untrusted sources to reduce attack surface until the device can be updated
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,776.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-3869 — 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-2015-3869 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
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