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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-0807

HIGH · 8.4 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-02-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
89/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges Zero-click

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
The get_build_id function in elf_utils.cpp in Debuggerd in Android 6.x before 2016-02-01 allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application that mishandles a Desc Size element in an ELF Note, aka internal bug 25187394.

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 confidence

The get_build_id function in Debuggerd's elf_utils.cpp in Android 6.x before the February 2016 patch improperly handles the Desc Size field in ELF Note structures, allowing a crafted application to trigger the mishandling and achieve privilege escalation.

MitigationApply the Android security update from February 2016 or later, which contains the fix for the improper ELF Note Desc Size validation in debuggerd.

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= 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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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 checks

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

  1. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if Version is 6.0 or 6.0.1
  2. Check security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell, or go to Settings > About Phone > Android security patch level
    Affected if Patch level is empty, blank, or shows a date before February 2016
  3. Verify debuggerd exists
    Run 'which debuggerd' or check for /system/bin/debuggerd via ADB shell
    Affected if debuggerd binary exists (vulnerability is in this component)
  4. Confirm no February 2016 update applied
    Check Settings > About Phone > Build number for the specific build date, or compare your build fingerprint against Google's monthly bulletin
    Affected if Build date is before February 2016 for Android 6.0/6.0.1 devices

Device is affected if running Android 6.0 or 6.0.1 and the February 2016 security patch has not been applied.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Android security update from February 2016 or later, which contains the fix for the improper ELF Note Desc Size validation in debuggerd.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
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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-2016-0807 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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