dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-2506

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-07-11
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
DRMExtractor.cpp in libstagefright in mediaserver in Android 4.x before 4.4.4, 5.0.x before 5.0.2, 5.1.x before 5.1.1, and 6.x before 2016-07-01 does not validate a certain offset value, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted media file, aka internal bug 28175045.

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 vulnerability exists in DRMExtractor.cpp within libstagefright's mediaserver component, where an offset value is not validated before being used in memory operations. This lack of bounds checking allows a crafted media file to trigger memory corruption, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution in the mediaserver process context.

MitigationUpdate affected Android devices to the July 2016 security patch level or later. As a defensive measure, prevent processing of untrusted media files from unknown or unverified sources.

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
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. Check Android OS 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 4.0, 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. Confirm mediaserver is present
    Check if the mediaserver process is running on the device. Run 'ps | grep mediaserver' via ADB shell, or inspect /system/bin/mediaserver existence.
    Affected if The mediaserver binary exists and runs media processing on the device.
  3. Verify libstagefright is in use
    Check if libstagefright libraries are present on the system. Inspect /system/lib/libstagefright.so or check linked libraries via 'adb shell ls /system/lib/libstagefright*'.
    Affected if libstagefright is present and handles media parsing.
  4. Identify media processing exposure
    Determine if the device processes media files from untrusted sources, such as browsing untrusted websites, receiving media via messaging apps, or using media players that handle external files.
    Affected if The device can process media files through apps that use libstagefright for DRM extraction.

The device is affected if it runs Android 4.0 through 4.3.1 and uses libstagefright's mediaserver to process media files from untrusted sources.

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

Update affected Android devices to the July 2016 security patch level or later. As a defensive measure, prevent processing of untrusted media files from unknown or unverified sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 4.4.4+ (for 4.x devices), Android 5.0.2+ (for 5.0.x), Android 5.1.1+ (for 5.1.x), or July 2016 security patch level+ (for 6.x)

  1. 1. Identify the exact Android version currently running on the device (Settings > About Phone > Android version)
  2. 2. If running Android 4.0.x, upgrade to Android 4.4.4 or later
  3. 3. If running Android 5.0.x, upgrade to Android 5.0.2 or later
  4. 4. If running Android 5.1.x, upgrade to Android 5.1.1 or later
  5. 5. If running Android 6.x, apply the July 2016 security patch or later (2016-07-01 or newer)
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the Android version and security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security patch level
  7. 7. For devices that cannot receive official updates, consider replacing with a device that receives regular security updates
Caveat Older devices may lack hardware support for newer Android versions; some applications may not be compatible with the new Android version; perform a full backup before upgrading

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,200.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2506 — 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-2016-2506 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