dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-1155

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-04-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
HTTP header injection vulnerability in the URLConnection class in Android OS 2.2 through 6.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary scripts or set arbitrary values in cookies.

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

HTTP header injection vulnerability in Android's URLConnection class (versions 2.2-6.0) allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary headers or split HTTP responses by injecting CRLF sequences into header values, potentially enabling arbitrary script execution or cookie manipulation.

MitigationDevelopers should validate and sanitize any user input before setting it as HTTP headers, avoid using untrusted data directly in headers, and implement proper encoding of header values to prevent CRLF injection.

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:= 2.2= 2.2.1= 2.2.2= 2.2.3= 2.3= 2.3.1= 2.3.2= 2.3.3= 2.3.4= 2.3.5= 2.3.6= 2.3.7

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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. Identify Android OS version
    Check the device or emulator settings under Settings > About Phone > Android version, or use 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if The version is between 2.2 and 6.0 inclusive
  2. Verify URLConnection usage
    Review the application source code for imports and usage of java.net.HttpURLConnection or java.net.URLConnection classes
    Affected if The application uses URLConnection to make HTTP requests
  3. Identify custom header setting
    Search the codebase for setRequestProperty or addRequestMethod calls on URLConnection objects
    Affected if The application sets custom HTTP headers programmatically
  4. Check header value sources
    Examine the code that provides values to setRequestProperty or addRequestHeader - trace back to the origin of those values
    Affected if Header values are derived from user input, external APIs, or untrusted data without validation
  5. Verify input sanitization
    Review the code path between user/external input and header setting - look for CRLF validation, rejection of newline characters, or encoding functions applied to header values
    Affected if No validation or sanitization is performed on header values to strip or reject CRLF sequences (\r\n) before they are set

A user is affected if their Android device runs version 2.2 through 6.0 AND the application uses URLConnection to set custom HTTP headers with values containing unvalidated user or external input.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Developers should validate and sanitize any user input before setting it as HTTP headers, avoid using untrusted data directly in headers, and implement proper encoding of header values to prevent CRLF injection.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 7.0 (Nougat) or later - any currently supported Android version receiving monthly security patches

  1. 1. Backup all important data from the Android device to a secure location
  2. 2. Navigate to Settings > System > Software Update (or Settings > About Phone > System Updates)
  3. 3. Check for and install any available system updates
  4. 4. If no updates are available through OTA, consider flashing a custom ROM with newer Android version or obtaining a carrier/OEM firmware update
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the URLConnection class behavior through application testing to confirm the vulnerability is resolved
Caveat Upgrading may remove support for older applications that were designed for Android 2.2-6.0; some legacy apps may become incompatible

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2016-1155 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