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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2015-8891

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-07-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.0.1 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
Multiple integer overflows in app/aboot/aboot.c in the Qualcomm components in Android before 2016-07-05 on Nexus 5 and 7 (2013) devices allow attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via a crafted image, aka Android internal bug 28842418 and Qualcomm internal bug CR813930.

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 confidence

Integer overflow vulnerabilities in the Qualcomm aboot bootloader (app/aboot/aboot.c) allow attackers to bypass access restrictions by using specially crafted images on affected Android devices (Nexus 5 and 7 2013 versions before July 2016).

MitigationApply Android security updates from July 2016 or later, which contain patched Qualcomm bootloader components that address the integer overflows in aboot.c.

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
AndroidOperating system
Affected:<= 6.0.1

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
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 checks

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

  1. Confirm device model is Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 2013
    Run 'getprop ro.product.model' in a shell or check the device settings under About Phone
    Affected if Device model is not Nexus 5 (hammerhead) or Nexus 7 2013 (flo/deb)
  2. Check Android OS version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version
    Affected if Version is greater than 6.0.1 (the vulnerability only affects Android <= 6.0.1)
  3. Verify bootloader version
    Run 'getprop ro.bootloader' to get the bootloader version, then check if it predates the July 2016 update
    Affected if Bootloader version is older than the July 2016 patch level and has not been updated
  4. Check security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' or check Settings > About Phone > Security patch level
    Affected if Security patch level is earlier than July 2016

Device is affected if it is a Nexus 5 or Nexus 7 2013 running Android 6.0.1 or below with a bootloader that has not been updated to include the July 2016 security patches.

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 a release after 6.0.1
Interim mitigation

Apply Android security updates from July 2016 or later, which contain patched Qualcomm bootloader components that address the integer overflows in aboot.c.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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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-2015-8891 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data