CordovaApplication · Apache
CVE-2016-6799
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 · uneditedProduct: Apache Cordova Android 5.2.2 and earlier. The application calls methods of the Log class. Messages passed to these methods (Log.v(), Log.d(), Log.i(), Log.w(), and Log.e()) are stored in a series of circular buffers on the device. By default, a maximum of four 16 KB rotated logs are kept in addition to the current log. The logged data can be read using Logcat on the device. When using platforms prior to Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), the log data is not sandboxed per application; any application installed on the device has the capability to read data logged by other applications.
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 confidenceApache Cordova Android apps running on devices with Android versions prior to 4.1 (Jelly Bean) expose log output through the Android system log (Logcat) to any application installed on the device. This occurs because pre-4.1 Android did not implement per-application log sandboxing, allowing cross-application log reading.
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
CordovaApplication
<= 5.2.2CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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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Identify the Apache Cordova versionRun 'cordova --version' in the project directory, or inspect the cordova-lib version in package.json or the CordovaLib/project.properties fileAffected if The installed Cordova version is 5.2.2 or lower
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Determine the app's minimum Android SDK targetOpen the AndroidManifest.xml file (or config.xml for Cordova projects) and locate the android:minSdkVersion attribute in the <uses-sdk> element, or check the cdvMinSdkVersion in config.xmlAffected if The minimum SDK version is set below 16 (Android 4.1 Jelly Bean)
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Verify production build logging configurationInspect the build configuration (build.gradle for Android) or ProGuard/R8 rules to confirm whether logging statements are being stripped or disabled in release/production buildsAffected if Logging is not disabled in production builds (Log.d, console.log, etc. remain active in release APKs)
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Confirm the target Android deployment environmentCheck the Android OS version on the device or emulator where the app is running or will be distributed, using Settings > About Phone > Android versionAffected if The app will run on devices with Android versions prior to 4.1 (API level 16)
You are affected if you use Cordova <= 5.2.2, your app targets Android SDK below 16, and logging is not disabled in production builds, allowing the app to run on pre-4.1 Android devices where log sandboxing is absent.
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 dataEnsure production builds have logging disabled (via ProGuard/R8 stripping or custom logging wrapper) and target Android 4.1 (API 16) or higher as the minimum supported version to benefit from OS-level log sandboxing.
Fix this in Cordova
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-6799 — 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-2016-6799 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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