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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2017-6286

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
NVIDIA libnvomx contains a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check which could lead to local escalation of privilege. This issue is rated as high. Product: Android. Version: N/A. Android: A-64893247. Reference: N-CVE-2017-6286.

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 confidence

NVIDIA libnvomx library on Android contains a missing bounds check that allows an out-of-bounds write vulnerability. This memory corruption flaw can be exploited for local privilege escalation, likely through a specially crafted media file or API call that triggers the unchecked buffer access.

MitigationApply vendor-provided security patches from NVIDIA/OEM partners that add proper bounds validation in libnvomx. Until patched, limit exposure by restricting third-party app access to media processing components and monitoring for unusual media library interactions.

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
AndroidOperating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check for NVIDIA hardware presence
    Examine /proc/cpuinfo or system information for NVIDIA GPU/chipset identifiers (e.g., 'NVIDIA', 'Tegra'). On devices without NVIDIA components, libnvomx is not present.
    Affected if Device lacks NVIDIA hardware - the libnvomx library is only present on NVIDIA-based Android devices and the vulnerability does not apply.
  2. Locate libnvomx library on the device
    Search filesystem for libnvomx.so in /system/lib/, /vendor/lib/, or /vendor/lib64/ using 'find /system -name libnvomx*' or similar file listing command.
    Affected if libnvomx library is not found - the vulnerable component is not installed on this device.
  3. Determine library version
    Run 'ls -la' on the found library file to check modification date, or use 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to check Android security patch level. Compare against the CVE disclosure date (December 2017).
    Affected if Security patch level is before January 2018 or library version cannot be determined - device may be unpatched.
  4. Verify media API accessibility
    Check if third-party apps have access to OMX (OpenMAX) media APIs by reviewing app permissions in Settings > Apps > Permissions, specifically Media or Camera access granted to untrusted applications.
    Affected if Untrusted third-party apps have broad media processing API access - the attack surface for triggering the vulnerability is present.
  5. Check for SELinux enforcement
    Run 'getenforce' to verify SELinux status. Confirm it is Enforcing rather than Permissive, which limits the impact of privilege escalation vulnerabilities.
    Affected if SELinux is Permissive or disabled - the exploitation chain is less restricted.

A user is affected if the device contains NVIDIA hardware, has the libnvomx library present, runs an Android security patch level predating the CVE fix, and has permissive access to media processing components.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-provided security patches from NVIDIA/OEM partners that add proper bounds validation in libnvomx. Until patched, limit exposure by restricting third-party app access to media processing components and monitoring for unusual media library interactions.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,120
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-6286 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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