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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2016-6708

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-11-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.0 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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
An elevation of privilege in the System UI in Android 7.0 before 2016-11-01 could enable a local malicious user to bypass the security prompt of your work profile in Multi-Window mode. This issue is rated as High because it is a local bypass of user interaction requirements for any developer or security setting modifications. Android ID: A-30693465.

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 confidence

A local malicious user can bypass the security prompt for work profiles when in Multi-Window mode on Android 7.0 before the November 2016 security patch. This elevation of privilege vulnerability allows bypass of user interaction requirements for developer or security setting modifications.

MitigationApply the Android security patch from November 2016 or later. For enterprise environments, ensure all managed devices receive the latest system updates through MDM or OEM update channels.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

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. Check Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if Version is 7.0 or earlier (e.g., 7.0, 6.x, 5.x)
  2. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell
    Affected if Patch level is earlier than November 2016 or shows no date
  3. Verify Multi-Window mode status
    Go to Settings > Developer options > Multi-window mode, or check if the device has multi-window capability enabled in display settings
    Affected if Multi-Window mode is enabled on the device
  4. Check for work profile configuration
    Go to Settings > Users > Work profile, or check for managed profiles via 'dpm list-profiles' command via ADB shell
    Affected if A work profile or managed profile is configured on the device

Device is affected if running Android 7.0 or earlier with a security patch level before November 2016 while Multi-Window mode is enabled and a work profile exists.

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 from November 2016 or later. For enterprise environments, ensure all managed devices receive the latest system updates through MDM or OEM update channels.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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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-2016-6708 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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