CVE-2016-8487
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 closed source components. Product: Android. Versions: Android kernel. Android ID: A-28823724.
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 confidenceThis is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Qualcomm's closed-source components for Android, affecting the Android kernel. The vulnerability allows a local malicious application to potentially execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, achieving root access on affected devices.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 Android Security Patch LevelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level (or Settings > System > Security Update on some devices). Note the date shown.Affected if The Security Patch Level is earlier than February 2017, or the device has not received the vendor patch addressing this CVE.
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Verify kernel version as informational contextUse a terminal app or ADB to run 'uname -a' and note the kernel version string.Affected if The kernel version alone does not confirm vulnerability; this is only context. The patch level is the definitive indicator.
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Confirm device vendor support statusCheck if the device manufacturer has released monthly security updates for your specific device model.Affected if The device is no longer supported by the manufacturer and is not receiving security updates.
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Identify if the device uses affected Qualcomm componentsCheck device specifications or run 'getprop' commands to determine the Qualcomm chipset and firmware version in use.Affected if The device uses a Qualcomm chipset with closed-source components, but specific version enumeration is not possible without vendor data.
The device is affected if the installed Security Patch Level is older than the patch that addresses CVE-2016-8487, or if the device no longer receives vendor security updates.
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 level (SPL) released by the device manufacturer that addresses this vulnerability. Users should ensure their devices receive regular monthly security updates from their device/vendor.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 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 $4,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-8487 — 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-2016-8487 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data