CVE-2016-3762
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 sockets subsystem in Android 5.0.x before 5.0.2, 5.1.x before 5.1.1, and 6.x before 2016-07-01 allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application that uses (1) the AF_MSM_IPC socket class or (2) another socket class that is unrecognized by SELinux, aka internal bug 28612709.
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 confidenceThe Android sockets subsystem has improper SELinux restrictions on certain socket classes, specifically AF_MSM_IPC and unrecognized socket classes. This allows a crafted malicious application to create sockets without proper SELinux enforcement, enabling privilege escalation by bypassing security boundaries that should restrict untrusted apps from accessing sensitive socket interfaces.
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= 5.0= 5.0.1= 5.1= 5.1.0= 6.0= 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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Check Android OS versionRun 'getprop ro.build.version.release' in a terminal or check Settings > About Phone > Android versionAffected if Version is 5.0, 5.0.1, 5.1, 5.1.0, 6.0, or 6.0.1
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Verify security patch levelRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' in a terminal or check Settings > About Phone > Security patch levelAffected if Patch level is empty, earlier than 2016-07-01, or shows a date before July 2016
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Confirm SELinux is enforcingRun 'getenforce' command in a terminal or use a SELinux status checker appAffected if SELinux is set to Permissive or Disabled (vulnerability impact is higher but the improper restrictions still exist in Enforcing mode on affected versions)
Device is affected if running Android 5.0-6.0.1 AND the security patch level is earlier than July 2016 or unknown, since the SELinux socket class restrictions were only properly addressed in the July 2016 Android security update.
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 level from July 2016 or later, which includes proper SELinux policies for socket classes. For enterprise deployments, ensure all affected Android devices receive the vendor firmware update.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3762 — 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-2016-3762 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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- 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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