AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-0819

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-03-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
The Qualcomm performance component in Android 4.x before 4.4.4, 5.x before 5.1.1 LMY49H, and 6.x before 2016-03-01 allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka internal bug 25364034.

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

A privilege escalation vulnerability in the Qualcomm performance component in Android versions 4.x-4.4.3, 5.x-5.1.0, and 6.x allows a locally-installed malicious application to gain elevated (root/system) privileges by exploiting the Qualcomm performance subsystem, aka internal bug 25364034.

MitigationApply the appropriate Android security patch level: 2016-03-01 or later for Android 6.x, version LMY49H (5.1.1) for Android 5.x, or version 4.4.4 for Android 4.x. Organizations should deploy these patches through their mobile device management (MDM) or EMM platforms.

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:= 4.0= 4.0.1= 4.0.2= 4.0.3= 4.0.4= 4.1= 4.1.2= 4.2= 4.2.1= 4.2.2= 4.3= 4.3.1

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. Check the Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone (or About Device) > Android version. Alternatively, run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell.
    Affected if The version is 4.x through 4.4.3, 5.x through 5.1.0, or 6.x (any version within these ranges). Note: The fix version is 4.4.4 for Android 4.x, LMY49H for 5.1.1, or 2016-03-01 patch level for Android 6.x.
  2. Check the installed security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. Alternatively, run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell.
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than 2016-03-01 for Android 6.x, earlier than LMY49H for Android 5.x, or earlier than the 4.4.4 patch for Android 4.x.
  3. Confirm the device uses a Qualcomm chipset
    Check the device specifications or run 'getprop ro.hardware' via ADB shell. You can also check via Settings > About Phone > Hardware or use a system info app.
    Affected if The device contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (the vulnerability exists in the Qualcomm performance subsystem).
  4. Check for signs of compromise
    Review installed applications for unknown or suspicious apps. Check if any application has requested or obtained root or system privileges unexpectedly using 'su' or similar.
    Affected if An untrusted application has obtained root or system-level privileges on the device, which could indicate this vulnerability was exploited.

A device is affected if it runs Android 4.x-4.4.3, 5.x-5.1.0, or 6.x and has not received the corresponding security patch (4.4.4 for 4.x, LMY49H for 5.1.1, or 2016-03-01 for 6.x), especially if it uses a Qualcomm chipset.

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 appropriate Android security patch level: 2016-03-01 or later for Android 6.x, version LMY49H (5.1.1) for Android 5.x, or version 4.4.4 for Android 4.x. Organizations should deploy these patches through their mobile device management (MDM) or EMM platforms.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,840
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2016-0819 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