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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-3742

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
decoder/ih264d_process_intra_mb.c in mediaserver in Android 6.x before 2016-07-01 mishandles intra mode, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (memory corruption) via a crafted media file, aka internal bug 28165659.

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

A memory corruption vulnerability exists in the H.264 video decoder (ih264d) within Android's mediaserver component. The vulnerability is in the intra macroblock processing code (ih264d_process_intra_mb.c), where improper handling of intra mode allows a remote attacker to trigger memory corruption via a crafted media file, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution.

MitigationApply the Android security patch released July 2016 or later, which addresses the intra mode handling flaw in the mediaserver's H.264 decoder. Users should avoid opening untrusted media files from unknown sources until the patch is applied.

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:= 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
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. Verify Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version. Alternatively, run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell.
    Affected if The version is 6.0 or 6.0.1, indicating the mediaserver component contains the vulnerable H.264 decoder code.
  2. Confirm mediaserver is accessible
    Check if applications can send arbitrary media data to the mediaserver component. On affected versions, any app can typically send crafted H.264 streams to mediaserver without special permissions.
    Affected if The device runs Android 6.0/6.0.1 and allows third-party apps to invoke the mediaserver for H.264 decoding operations.
  3. Identify H.264 decoder usage
    Review running processes for mediaserver activity: run 'ps -A | grep mediaserver' via ADB shell, or monitor network connections and inter-process communication to mediaserver.
    Affected if The mediaserver process is active and processing media, particularly H.264 streams from untrusted sources.

If the device runs Android 6.0 or 6.0.1 and uses the mediaserver component to decode H.264 media, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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

Apply the Android security patch released July 2016 or later, which addresses the intra mode handling flaw in the mediaserver's H.264 decoder. Users should avoid opening untrusted media files from unknown sources until the patch is applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 6.0.1 with July 2016 security patch level (2016-07-01) or later; or upgrade to Android 7.x/8.x with current security patches

  1. Check current Android version by going to Settings > About Phone > Android version
  2. Verify the device can receive monthly security updates from the carrier or OEM
  3. Check for system updates: Settings > System > Software Update > Check for updates
  4. Apply the July 2016 security patch update (or later) which contains the fix for this vulnerability (internal bug 28165659)
  5. If the device is locked to Android 6.0.1 and cannot receive further security updates, consider upgrading to a newer Android version that receives ongoing security support
Caveat Upgrading to a newer Android version may remove support for some legacy applications or device features; some devices may not receive carrier/OEM updates to the required patch level

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2016-3742 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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