CVE-2015-9022
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 · uneditedIn all Android releases from CAF using the Linux kernel, time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Conditions exist in several TZ APIs.
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 confidenceTOCTOU race conditions in Android's Trusted Zone (TZ) APIs allow attackers to exploit the time gap between security checks and resource usage. This affects all CAF-based Android releases using the Linux kernel, potentially allowing privilege escalation or security bypass in the trusted execution environment.
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
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/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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Identify if the device uses a CAF-based kernelCheck /proc/version or run 'uname -a' to see if the kernel string contains 'CAF' or Qualcomm-related identifiersAffected if The kernel is built by Code Aurora Forum (CAF) for Qualcomm-based devices
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Verify TrustZone/TZ is presentCheck for /dev/tz_driver or examine /sys/firmware/ for TrustZone-related entries; alternatively, look for 'tzd' or 'tz' in /proc/mountsAffected if The device has an active Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) implemented via ARM TrustZone
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Check kernel version against patch timelineRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' or check 'cat /proc/version' to obtain the kernel build date; compare to mid-2015 when CVE-2015-9022 was disclosedAffected if The security patch level predates June 2015 or the kernel version is older than 3.10-series CAF builds
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Inspect TZ API access permissionsExamine /dev/ts for world-readable/writable permissions or check 'ls -la /dev/*tz*' to see if any TZ device nodes have insecure access controlsAffected if Trusted Zone device nodes are accessible without proper SELinux restrictions or have overly permissive file modes
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Check for vulnerable TZ syscall exposureLook for /sys/kernel/debug/tz_* or /dev/qseecom entries; then verify if untrusted apps can directly invoke TZ functions via these interfacesAffected if TZ API endpoints are exposed to userspace applications without proper validation routines
The device is likely affected if it runs a CAF-based Qualcomm kernel with TrustZone enabled and has not received a 2015 or later security update addressing this TZ race condition vulnerability.
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 CAF/Android kernel security patches for CVE-2015-9022 to fix the race conditions in affected TZ API functions; this requires a kernel update as the vulnerability is in the low-level trusted zone implementation.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA12.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $16,768.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-9022 — 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-2015-9022 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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