CVE-2016-3940
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 Synaptics touchscreen driver in Android before 2016-10-05 on Nexus 6P and Android One devices allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka internal bug 30141991.
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 confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Synaptics touchscreen driver in Android on Nexus 6P and Android One devices prior to the October 5, 2016 security patch. A crafted malicious application can exploit improper validation or access controls in the driver to elevate privileges from a standard application context to higher system privileges.
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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Identify device modelGo to Settings > About Phone and verify the device model is either Nexus 6P or an Android One deviceAffected if Device is a Nexus 6P or Android One device
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Check Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version and note the OS version numberAffected if Android version is 7.0 or lower (versions 6.x and below)
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Check security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level and note the date of the installed security updateAffected if Security patch level is dated before October 5, 2016 or the field shows unknown/not updated
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Verify touchscreen driver presenceThis vulnerability exists in the Synaptics touchscreen driver; if the device has a Synaptics touch controller (visible in kernel logs or /proc/bus/input/devices), the device contains the affected componentAffected if Device uses a Synaptics touchscreen controller and meets the above version/patch criteria
A user is affected if they are running Android 7.0 or below on a Nexus 6P or Android One device with a security patch level predating October 5, 2016, and the device contains a Synaptics touchscreen driver.
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 update released on or after October 5, 2016 to affected Nexus 6P and Android One devices. Ensure devices are running a patched Android version that includes the fix for internal bug 30141991.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3940 — 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-2016-3940 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data