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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-3745

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
Multiple buffer overflows 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 allow attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application that provides an AudioEffect reply, as demonstrated by obtaining Signature or SignatureOrSystem access, aka internal bug 28173666.

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

Buffer overflow vulnerabilities in Android's mediaserver component allow a malicious application to inject crafted AudioEffect reply data, potentially executing arbitrary code with elevated Signature or SignatureOrSystem privileges.

MitigationApply the July 2016 Android Security Patch Level or later, which addresses this vulnerability in mediaserver. For enterprise environments, deploy via EMM/MDM solutions and verify patch compliance across fleet.

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 the Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if The version matches any of these: 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
  2. Confirm mediaserver component is present
    Run 'ps | grep mediaserver' via ADB shell to verify the mediaserver process is running on the device
    Affected if The mediaserver process is actively running on the device
  3. Verify AudioEffect API availability
    Check if applications can access android.media.audiofx.AudioEffect class by inspecting installed apps or reviewing code that uses this API
    Affected if The AudioEffect class is accessible and the device allows third-party apps to interact with audio effects (this is default behavior in affected versions)
  4. Review system logs for mediaserver anomalies
    Run 'logcat -d | grep -i mediaserver' or 'logcat -d | grep -i audioeffect' via ADB shell to look for crash logs, buffer overflow indicators, or unexpected AudioEffect-related errors
    Affected if Log output shows mediaserver crashes, SIGABRT errors, or AudioEffect processing failures that may indicate exploitation attempts

A device is affected if it runs Android version 4.0 through 4.3.1, has the mediaserver process running, and allows apps to access the AudioEffect API.

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 July 2016 Android Security Patch Level or later, which addresses this vulnerability in mediaserver. For enterprise environments, deploy via EMM/MDM solutions and verify patch compliance across fleet.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 4.4.4 or later (for 4.x branch); Android 5.0.2 or later (for 5.0.x branch); Android 5.1.1 or later (for 5.1.x branch); Android 6.x after July 2016

  1. 1. Check the current Android version on the device by navigating to Settings > About Phone > Android version
  2. 2. Due to the age of Android 4.0.x devices, first verify if the device manufacturer provides official OS updates
  3. 3. If official updates are unavailable, check if the device supports custom ROMs (e.g., LineageOS) that can provide updated Android versions with security patches
  4. 4. If the device cannot be updated, consider replacing it with a device that receives regular security updates
  5. 5. As a mitigation, avoid installing applications from untrusted sources to reduce the attack surface for this mediaserver vulnerability
  6. 6. If the device must remain on Android 4.x, apply any available carrier or manufacturer-specific security patches if released
Caveat Android 4.0.x devices are very old and may not support newer Android versions; hardware incompatibility may occur with newer OS versions on older devices; custom ROMs will void manufacturer warranty

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
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2016-3745 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