Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2016-6761
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 Qualcomm media codecs could enable a local malicious application to execute arbitrary code within the context of a privileged process. This issue is rated as High because it could be used to gain local access to elevated capabilities, which are not normally accessible to a third-party application. Product: Android. Versions: Kernel-3.10, Kernel-3.18. Android ID: A-29421682. References: QC-CR#1055792.
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 in Qualcomm's media codecs for Android allows a malicious third-party application to execute arbitrary code within the context of a privileged system process (likely mediaserver), gaining elevated capabilities not normally accessible to apps.
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
Linux KernelOperating system
= 3.10= 3.18CVSS 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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Check Android kernel versionRun 'cat /proc/version' or check via 'Settings > About Phone > Kernel Version' to obtain the running kernel versionAffected if The kernel version is exactly 3.10 or exactly 3.18
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Identify mediaserver processRun 'ps | grep mediaserver' or 'adb shell ps -A | grep mediaserver' to verify the mediaserver process is runningAffected if The mediaserver process is present and running on the device
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Verify untrusted app installation is possibleCheck if 'Install from unknown sources' is enabled or if the device allows side-loaded apps (go to Settings > Security > Unknown sources)Affected if The device allows installation of apps from unknown sources, enabling the malicious third-party app attack vector described in the CVE
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Check for available Android security patchesLook at Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level to see the installed security update dateAffected if The security patch level is earlier than the fix for CVE-2016-6761, which was addressed in Android's November 2016 security bulletin
A device is likely affected if it runs a Linux kernel exactly version 3.10 or 3.18, has the mediaserver process running, allows installation of third-party apps, and has not received the November 2016 Android security patch.
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 Android security patches from the affected device manufacturers. Organizations should ensure Android devices receive regular security updates and consider MDM solutions to track and deploy patches to managed devices.
Fix this in Linux Kernel
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 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 $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-6761 — 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-2016-6761 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
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