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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-3933

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-10-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.0 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
mediaserver in Android before 2016-10-05 on Nexus 9 and Pixel C devices allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka internal bug 29421408.

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 · low confidence

A privilege escalation vulnerability in the mediaserver component of Android allows a crafted application to gain elevated privileges on affected Nexus 9 and Pixel C devices running Android versions before October 5, 2016. The vulnerability is identified as internal bug 29421408.

MitigationApply the Android security patch released on or after October 5, 2016 to affected devices.

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:<= 7.0

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify device model
    Check if the device is a Nexus 9 or Pixel C. On the device, go to Settings > About Phone or use 'getprop ro.product.model' via ADB
    Affected if The device is a Nexus 9 or Pixel C - other devices are not affected by this specific CVE
  2. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or use 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if Android version is 7.0 or below (versions before the October 5, 2016 patch)
  3. Verify mediaserver component is present
    Check if the mediaserver service exists by running 'service list' via ADB shell or inspecting /system/bin/mediaserver
    Affected if The mediaserver binary exists and is executable on the device - this is the vulnerable component
  4. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or use 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB
    Affected if Security patch level is earlier than October 5, 2016 (should show a date before 2016-10-05)

The environment is affected only if it is a Nexus 9 or Pixel C device running Android 7.0 or below with a security patch level dated before October 5, 2016.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 7.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the Android security patch released on or after October 5, 2016 to affected devices.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2016-3933 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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