CVE-2018-11816
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 · uneditedCrafted Binder Request Causes Heap UAF in MediaServer
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 heap-based use-after-free vulnerability exists in Android's MediaServer component. The flaw is triggered by sending a specially crafted Binder inter-process communication request, which can lead to memory corruption and potential code execution. This affects Android devices running affected versions of the operating system.
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 versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Qualcomm chipset modelCheck the device specifications or use commands like 'getprop' (e.g., 'getprop ro.product.board' or 'getprop ro.board.platform') to identify the chipset. Alternatively, check the device model against the list of affected Qualcomm components: 9206 LTE, APQ8016, APQ8017, APQ8039, APQ8052, APQ8056, APQ8076, or AQT1000.Affected if The device uses any of the listed Qualcomm firmware components (all versions of these chipsets are affected).
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Check the Android security patch levelUse the command 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' on the Android device to retrieve the installed security patch level. This value indicates when the last Android security update was applied.Affected if The security patch level is earlier than 2018-06-01, or the property is empty/unavailable, meaning the June 2018 security update has not been applied.
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Verify MediaServer process statusUse the command 'ps -A | grep mediaserver' or 'ps -A | grep mediaserver' to check if the MediaServer process is running. This process is typically running by default on Android devices with media capabilities.Affected if MediaServer is running (which is the default state on most Android devices), making the device potentially exploitable if the security patch is not applied.
The device is affected if it uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (9206 LTE, APQ8016, APQ8017, APQ8039, APQ8052, APQ8056, APQ8076, AQT1000) AND has not received the June 2018 or later Android security patch.
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 Android security patch level for June 2018 or later, which addresses this MediaServer vulnerability. Organizations should ensure all managed Android devices receive regular monthly security updates.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11816 — 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-2018-11816 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
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