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Mxq Tv Box FirmwareOperating system · Mxq Project

CVE-2018-14988

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-12-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
The MXQ TV Box 4.4.2 Android device with a build fingerprint of MBX/m201_N/m201_N:4.4.2/KOT49H/20160106:user/test-keys contains the Android framework with a package name of android (versionCode=19, versionName=4.4.2-20170213) that contains an exported broadcast receiver application component that, when called, will make the device inoperable. The vulnerable component named com.android.server.SystemRestoreReceiver will write a value of --restore_system\n--locale=<localeto the /cache/recovery/command file and boot into recovery mode. During this process, it appears that when booting into recovery mode, the system partition gets formatted or modified and will be unable to boot properly thereafter. After the device wouldn't boot properly, a factory reset of the device in recovery mode does not regain properly functionality of the device. The com.android.server.SystemRestoreReceiver broadcast receiver app component is accessible to any app co-located on the device and does not require any permission to access. The user can most likely recover the device by flashing clean firmware images placed on an SD card.

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 confidence

The MXQ TV Box firmware contains an exported broadcast receiver (com.android.server.SystemRestoreReceiver) accessible to any app without permissions. When triggered, it writes to /cache/recovery/command and forces recovery mode boot, causing irreversible system partition modification that bricks the device.

MitigationDisable or remove the exported SystemRestoreReceiver component, add permission checks, or refactor the recovery trigger logic to prevent unauthorized access. Users with bricked devices must flash clean firmware via SD card.

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
Mxq Tv Box FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 4.4.2

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Identify device model
    Check if the device is an MXQ TV Box by examining the device model or branding information in system settings or on the device casing
    Affected if The device is an MXQ Project Mxq Tv Box
  2. Check firmware version
    Navigate to Settings > About Device on the TV box and verify the firmware version is exactly 4.4.2
    Affected if Firmware version equals 4.4.2
  3. Verify SystemRestoreReceiver component exists
    Decompile the firmware ROM or examine the AndroidManifest.xml within the system APK that contains com.android.server.SystemRestoreReceiver to confirm the broadcast receiver is declared and exported
    Affected if The SystemRestoreReceiver component is present and has android:exported="true" in the manifest
  4. Confirm /cache/recovery/command is accessible
    With root access, verify the existence and permissions of /cache/recovery/command - attempt to read or write to this file to confirm it is accessible
    Affected if /cache/recovery/command file exists and is writable by apps without elevated privileges

A user is affected if they own an MXQ TV Box running firmware version 4.4.2 where the SystemRestoreReceiver broadcast receiver is exported and accessible to any application, allowing unauthorized recovery mode triggers.

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

Disable or remove the exported SystemRestoreReceiver component, add permission checks, or refactor the recovery trigger logic to prevent unauthorized access. Users with bricked devices must flash clean firmware via SD card.

Fix this in Mxq Tv Box Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
25.0 hours of engineering $4,400
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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-2018-14988 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
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