CVE-2016-2434
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 · uneditedThe NVIDIA video driver in Android before 2016-05-01 on Nexus 9 devices allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka internal bug 27251090.
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 confidenceThis is a privilege escalation vulnerability in the NVIDIA video driver for Android on Nexus 9 devices. A specially crafted application can exploit the driver's insufficient input validation or improper privilege handling to gain elevated system privileges, potentially achieving root access.
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<= 6.0.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the device modelCheck if the device is a Nexus 9 (HTC manufactured). On the device, go to Settings > About Phone > Model number, or run 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADBAffected if The device model is not Nexus 9 - this vulnerability is specific to Nexus 9 hardware
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Check the Android OS versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if Android version is 6.0.1 or earlier (6.0, 5.1, 5.0, etc.) - the vulnerability affects Android 6.0.1 and below
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Verify NVIDIA video driver presenceCheck for NVIDIA graphics driver modules. Run 'ls /system/lib/modules/' or 'getprop hw.gralloc' via ADB to identify if NVIDIA video driver is loadedAffected if NVIDIA video driver is present and loaded on the device
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Review installed applications for suspicious appsCheck installed apps for unknown or untrusted applications, especially those requesting unusual permissions. Use Settings > Apps > All apps via ADB: 'pm list packages -3' for third-party appsAffected if A malicious application exploiting the driver vulnerability has been installed
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Check for unexpected root access or privilege escalation artifactsLook for signs of compromise: unexpected su binary, modified system分区, unusual root management apps. Run 'ls -la /system/app/' and check for unknown superuser appsAffected if Root access exists without user authorization or unexpected privilege escalation has occurred
A Nexus 9 device running Android 6.0.1 or earlier with an NVIDIA video driver is affected if a malicious application has been installed that exploits the driver 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 the Android security patch released May 2016 or later, which includes the corrected NVIDIA video driver. For affected out-of-support devices, consider network segmentation or device replacement.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2434 — 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-2016-2434 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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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.
- 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
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