CVE-2016-3939
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 · unediteddrivers/video/msm/mdss/mdss_debug.c in the Qualcomm video driver in Android before 2016-10-05 on Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, and Android One devices allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka Android internal bug 30874196 and Qualcomm internal bug CR 1001224.
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 confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in the Qualcomm Mobile Display Subsystem (mdss) video driver debug interface (mdss_debug.c). The flawed driver allows a malicious application to exploit improper access controls in the debug functionality to elevate privileges from a normal application to root/system level.
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= 7.0CVSS 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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Confirm Android version is 7.0Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if The device shows Android version 7.0 (exactly) - versions before or after 7.0 are not affected by this specific CVE
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Verify mdss driver is present on the deviceCheck for mdss kernel module by running 'ls /sys/module/ | grep mdss' or 'ls /proc/modules | grep mdss' via ADB shellAffected if The mdss module is loaded and present on the device - this is the vulnerable component containing the debug interface
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Check for mdss debug interface accessLook for debug files under /sys/kernel/debug/mdss or /d/mdss by running 'ls /d/mdss' or 'ls /sys/kernel/debug/mdss' via ADB shell with root privilegesAffected if Debug interface files/directories are readable or writable by the system user - this indicates the debug functionality is exposed
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Verify app can access mdss debug nodesFrom a non-root ADB shell or app context, attempt to read/write to identified mdss debug paths (e.g., cat /d/mdss/*)Affected if Non-privileged users or apps can access the mdss debug interface without proper permission checks - this confirms the improper access control exists
A device is affected if it runs Android version 7.0 exactly AND has the mdss driver loaded with accessible debug interfaces that allow unprivileged access.
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 2016-10-05 or later, which contains the corrected mdss driver code. Users of affected devices (Nexus 5X, 6, 6P, Android One) should ensure they receive and install OEM-provided system updates.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3939 — 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-2016-3939 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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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.
- 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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