AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-0827

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
Multiple integer overflows in libeffects in mediaserver in Android 4.x before 4.4.4, 5.x before 5.1.1 LMY49H, and 6.x before 2016-03-01 allow attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, as demonstrated by obtaining Signature or SignatureOrSystem access, related to EffectBundle.cpp and EffectReverb.cpp, aka internal bug 26347509.

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

Multiple integer overflow vulnerabilities in libeffects within Android's mediaserver component (EffectBundle.cpp and EffectReverb.cpp) allow a crafted application to escalate privileges to Signature or SignatureOrSystem level, effectively achieving system-level access from a normal application context.

MitigationApply the March 2016 Android security patch (or subsequent vendor patches) which addresses CVE-2016-0827. Ensure devices receive regular monthly security updates from manufacturers.

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. Identify Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version
    Affected if Version is 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, or 4.3.1
  2. Check security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to see the installed patch date
    Affected if Patch level is earlier than March 2016 or the property is not set
  3. Confirm mediaserver component
    Verify the mediaserver service is present on the device by checking for /system/bin/mediaserver or running 'getprop | grep mediaserver'
    Affected if Mediaserver binary exists (vulnerability requires this component to be present)
  4. Verify vendor update status
    Check if the device has received monthly security updates from the manufacturer
    Affected if Device has not received vendor patches since the March 2016 security bulletin

The device is affected if it runs Android 4.0 through 4.3.1 and lacks the March 2016 or later security patch.

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 March 2016 Android security patch (or subsequent vendor patches) which addresses CVE-2016-0827. Ensure devices receive regular monthly security updates from manufacturers.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-0827 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-0827 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