CVE-2016-3765
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 · unediteddecoder/impeg2d_bitstream.c in mediaserver in Android 6.x before 2016-07-01 allows attackers to obtain sensitive information from process memory or cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) via a crafted application, aka internal bug 28168413.
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 confidenceAn out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in the MPEG-2 video decoder (impeg2d_bitstream.c) within Android's mediaserver component. By providing a specially crafted video stream, an attacker can trigger reads beyond allocated buffer boundaries, enabling disclosure of sensitive process memory contents or causing a denial of service through a crash.
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= 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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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Verify Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone (or About Device) > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via adb shellAffected if The version displays 6.0 or 6.0.1 exactly (not 6.0.0, 6.0.2, or higher)
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Confirm mediaserver component is presentRun 'ps | grep mediaserver' via adb shell to verify the mediaserver process is runningAffected if The mediaserver process is active on the device
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Check if MPEG-2 video playback occursReview running applications or logs (logcat) for any video playback activity, particularly involving MPEG-2 codec ( FourCC: 'MPG1' or 'MPG2')Affected if Any app is actively decoding MPEG-2 video content on the device
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Verify security patch levelRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via adb shell to check the installed security patch dateAffected if The patch level is earlier than July 2016 or the property returns empty/unavailable
A user is affected if the device runs Android 6.0 or 6.0.1, the mediaserver process is active, and the device processes MPEG-2 video content, particularly from untrusted sources.
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 released July 2016 or later, which addresses this mediaserver vulnerability. Until patched, exercise caution with untrusted video content and consider restricting media processing permissions where possible.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,608.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3765 — 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-2016-3765 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data