Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2016-8464
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 Broadcom Wi-Fi driver could enable a local malicious application to execute arbitrary code within the context of the kernel. This issue is rated as Moderate because it first requires compromising a privileged process and is mitigated by current platform configurations. Product: Android. Versions: Kernel-3.10, Kernel-3.18. Android ID: A-29000183. References: B-RB#106314.
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 kernel-level privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Broadcom Wi-Fi driver for Android. A local malicious application that has already compromised a privileged process can leverage this flaw in the Wi-Fi driver to execute arbitrary code within the kernel context, achieving full device compromise.
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
- 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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Identify the running kernel versionRun 'uname -r' or check /proc/version to determine the exact kernel version installed on the deviceAffected if The kernel version is exactly 3.10 or exactly 3.18
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Confirm the operating system is AndroidCheck /system/build.prop for the 'ro.build.version.sdk' property or run 'getprop ro.build.version.sdk' to verify this is an Android deviceAffected if The device is running Android with the affected kernel versions (3.10 or 3.18)
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Identify the Wi-Fi driver in useCheck /proc/kallsyms, /sys/module, or lsmod output for Broadcom Wi-Fi driver modules such as 'bcmdhd', 'bcm4339', 'bcm4356', or similar Broadcom wireless driver identifiersAffected if A Broadcom Wi-Fi driver module is loaded or present on the system
A system is affected if it runs Android on kernel version 3.10 or 3.18 and has a Broadcom Wi-Fi driver loaded, since the privilege escalation exists in the driver itself when these conditions are met.
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 appropriate Android security patch level that includes the fix for A-29000183, which addresses the Broadcom Wi-Fi driver vulnerability in affected kernel versions 3.10 and 3.18.
Fix this in Linux Kernel
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-8464 — 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-2016-8464 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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