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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2018-9389

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-18
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
In ip6_append_data of ip6_output.c, there is a possible way to achieve code execution due to a heap buffer overflow. This could lead to local 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 · high confidence

A heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the ip6_append_data function in ip6_output.c within the Linux kernel's IPv6 networking stack. This memory corruption issue can be exploited locally to achieve privilege escalation without requiring user interaction or additional execution privileges.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied Linux kernel security update that addresses CVE-2018-9389; this typically involves patching the kernel and rebooting the affected systems to load the fixed kernel version.

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:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Confirm the system is Google Android
    Check the OS by reviewing /system/build.prop or using the command 'getprop ro.build.fingerprint' to verify the device is running Android
    Affected if The device is Google Android and the kernel version has not been patched for CVE-2018-9389
  2. Identify the kernel version
    Run 'uname -a' or 'cat /proc/version' to obtain the installed kernel version number
    Affected if The kernel version is older than the patched version that addresses the ip6_append_data overflow in ip6_output.c
  3. Verify IPv6 is enabled
    Check if IPv6 is active by running 'ip -6 addr show' or inspecting /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf/*/disable_ipv6 - look for values of 0 (enabled)
    Affected if IPv6 is enabled on the device and the kernel lacks the security fix for the ip6_append_data vulnerability

A device is affected if it is running Google Android with an unpatched kernel that still contains the vulnerable ip6_append_data function in ip6_output.c, with IPv6 networking available as the attack surface.

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 Linux kernel security update that addresses CVE-2018-9389; this typically involves patching the kernel and rebooting the affected systems to load the fixed kernel version.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2018-9389 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