CVE-2016-6715
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 · uneditedAn elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Framework APIs in Android 4.x before 4.4.4, 5.0.x before 5.0.2, 5.1.x before 5.1.1, 6.x before 2016-11-01, and 7.0 before 2016-11-01 could allow a local malicious application to record audio without the user's permission. This issue is rated as Moderate because it is a local bypass of user interaction requirements (access to functionality that would normally require either user initiation or user permission.) Android ID: A-29833954.
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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Android's Framework APIs that allows a malicious application to bypass the normal RECORD_AUDIO permission check and record audio without user authorization. The flaw exists in how the Framework validates audio recording requests across Android 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, and 7.0 versions prior to the November 2016 security patches.
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>= 4.0, < 4.4.4>= 5.0, < 5.0.2>= 5.1, < 5.1.1>= 6.0, <= 6.0.1= 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Android OS versionNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run command: adb shell getprop ro.build.version.releaseAffected if Version is 4.0 to 4.4.3, 5.0 to 5.0.1, 5.1 to 5.1.0, 6.0 to 6.0.1, or exactly 7.0
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Check security patch levelNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run command: adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patchAffected if Patch level shows a date before November 2016 (such as October 2016 or earlier)
Device is affected if Android version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND the security patch level predates the November 2016 update.
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 data4.4.45.0.25.1.1
Apply the November 2016 Android security patch level or later to all affected devices. Organizations should update their mobile device management policies to enforce minimum patch levels and verify that the RECORD_AUDIO permission is properly enforced on all devices.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-6715 — 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-2016-6715 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
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