Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2016-8449
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 NVIDIA GPU driver could enable a local malicious application to execute arbitrary code within the context of the kernel. This issue is rated as High because it first requires compromising a privileged process. Product: Android. Versions: Kernel-3.10. Android ID: A-31798848. References: N-CVE-2016-8449.
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 · moderate confidenceA vulnerability in the NVIDIA GPU driver for Android (Kernel-3.10) allows a local malicious application that has already compromised a privileged process to execute arbitrary code within kernel context, achieving elevation of privilege. The flaw resides in the graphics driver component and enables a compromised user-space process to break out of its sandbox and run code at the highest privilege level.
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
= 3.10CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/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 the kernel versionRun 'uname -r' or check /proc/version to confirm the kernel version is exactly 3.10Affected if Kernel version is 3.10 and the device runs Android with an NVIDIA GPU driver
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Verify the operating system is AndroidCheck /system/build.prop or run 'getprop ro.build.id' to confirm this is an Android deviceAffected if Device is running Android with kernel 3.10
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Identify NVIDIA GPU driver presenceCheck /proc/driver/nvidia/version or look for nvidia.ko module via 'lsmod | grep nvidia' or inspect /dev/nvidia* nodesAffected if NVIDIA graphics driver is loaded on an Android device with kernel 3.10
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Detect signs of privileged process compromiseReview running processes with root privileges using 'ps -U 0' or check for unexpected processes holding CAP_SYS_RAWIO or CAP_SYS_ADMIN capabilitiesAffected if A privileged process (running as root or with elevated capabilities) shows signs of compromise or unexpected behavior on an affected kernel 3.10 Android device
A device is affected if it runs Android on kernel 3.10 with an NVIDIA GPU driver and a privileged process has been compromised to enable kernel-level code execution.
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 vendor security patch for Android ID A-31798848 via OTA update from the device OEM/carrier. Until the patch is deployed, restrict application installations to trusted sources to reduce the attack surface.
Fix this in Linux Kernel
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,152.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-8449 — 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-2016-8449 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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