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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2018-9373

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
In TdlsexRxFrameHandle of the MTK WLAN driver, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to remote escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.

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

A missing bounds check in the TdlsexRxFrameHandle function of the MediaTek WLAN driver allows an out of bounds write, enabling remote privilege escalation without user interaction or additional privileges. The vulnerability exists in how the driver processes received frames.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied MTK WLAN driver update that implements proper bounds checking in TdlsexRxFrameHandle. Until patched, consider network isolation to reduce attack surface for remote WLAN-based exploitation.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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 checks

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

  1. Identify MediaTek WLAN hardware in use
    Check system information or device specifications to determine if the WLAN/Bluetooth hardware is supplied by MediaTek. On Android, this may be visible in /system/build.prop, under 'wifi.supplicant', or in kernel module information.
    Affected if The device uses a MediaTek WLAN chip; the vulnerability is specific to MediaTek's WLAN driver implementation.
  2. Locate the TdlsexRxFrameHandle driver component
    Search for the MediaTek WLAN driver module or library files. Common locations may include /vendor/lib/, /system/lib/, or kernel module directories. Look for files containing 'wlan' or 'mtk' in the filename and check for the presence of the TdlsexRxFrameHandle function in any driver binaries or libraries.
    Affected if The MediaTek WLAN driver with the vulnerable TdlsexRxFrameHandle function is present on the device.
  3. Confirm driver handles received network frames
    Verify that the WLAN driver is actively processing received frames. This is typically indicated by the WLAN interface being in an up state and capable of receiving traffic, or by checking that the relevant driver module is loaded.
    Affected if The WLAN interface is active and the driver is processing received frames, which is the normal operating state required for the vulnerability to be exploitable.
  4. Review Android version and security patch level
    Check the Android version (Settings > About Phone > Android version) and the installed security patch level (Settings > About Phone > Security patch level). Compare against publicly available patch information for CVE-2018-9373.
    Affected if The device is running any version of Android without the May 2018 or later security patch that addresses this specific MediaTek WLAN driver vulnerability.

A device is affected if it contains MediaTek WLAN hardware with the vulnerable TdlsexRxFrameHandle function in the driver and is not running an Android version with the corresponding security patch.

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 the vendor-supplied MTK WLAN driver update that implements proper bounds checking in TdlsexRxFrameHandle. Until patched, consider network isolation to reduce attack surface for remote WLAN-based exploitation.

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-2018-9373 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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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