dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-2458

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-05-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 compose functionality in AOSP Mail in Android 5.0.x before 5.0.2, 5.1.x before 5.1.1, and 6.x before 2016-05-01 does not properly restrict attachments, which allows attackers to obtain sensitive information via a crafted application, related to ComposeActivity.java and ComposeActivityEmail.java, aka internal bug 27335139.

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 AOSP Mail app's compose functionality fails to properly restrict attachment access, allowing a malicious local application to intercept or obtain sensitive email attachments through improper intent handling in ComposeActivity.java and ComposeActivityEmail.java.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied Android security patches (5.0.2, 5.1.1, and the May 2016 patch level for 6.x) which contain the fix for the attachment access control in AOSP Mail.

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:= 5.0= 5.0.1= 5.1= 5.1.0= 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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone (or About Device) > Android version. Verify the exact version number displayed.
    Affected if The version is exactly 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.1, 5.1.0, 6.0, or 6.0.1. Versions outside this list or later patch levels are not affected by this specific CVE.
  2. Verify AOSP Mail app is in use
    Check if the default mail application is the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) Mail app, not a vendor-specific mail app. Go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > Default apps and see which mail app is set as default.
    Affected if The AOSP Mail app is set as the default email client. Third-party or vendor-modified mail apps may have different vulnerability statuses.
  3. Confirm patch level is unpatched
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android security patch level (or Security patch level). Check if the patch level is earlier than the fixed versions: before May 2016 for 6.x, before 5.0.2 for 5.0.x, and before 5.1.1 for 5.1.x.
    Affected if The device has not received the May 2016 security patch (or later) for 6.x, or the 5.0.2/5.1.1 patches for 5.x versions. Unpatched devices in the affected version list are vulnerable.
  4. Identify compose attachment access
    This vulnerability requires the ComposeActivity component to be accessible. A malicious local app could send intents to intercept attachments. No user action is needed beyond having the AOSP Mail app installed with attachment viewing enabled.
    Affected if The AOSP Mail app is installed and functional with attachment capabilities enabled on an unpatched Android version listed in the affected versions.

A device is affected if it runs Android 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.1, 5.1.0, 6.0, or 6.0.1 with the AOSP Mail app as the default email client and has not received the vendor security patches (5.0.2, 5.1.1, or May 2016 patch level for 6.x).

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 vendor-supplied Android security patches (5.0.2, 5.1.1, and the May 2016 patch level for 6.x) which contain the fix for the attachment access control in AOSP Mail.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,280
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,048.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2458 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2016-2458 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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