AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2018-9528

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-11-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 ixheaacd_over_lap_add1_armv8 of ixheaacd_overlap_add1.s there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to remote code execution with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation. Product: Android. Versions: Android-9. Android ID: A-112551721

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

Out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the HE-AAC audio decoder (ixheaacd) specifically in the ixheaacd_over_lap_add1_armv8 function. A missing bounds check in the overlap-add assembly code allows writing beyond allocated buffer boundaries, potentially enabling remote code execution.

MitigationApply the Android security patch for Android-9 that includes the fix for A-112551721. This is a system-level codec library issue requiring a platform update from the device OEM; no user configuration can mitigate the vulnerability.

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:= 9.0

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Verify Android version is 9.0
    Check system settings under 'About Phone' > 'Android version' or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if The device runs Android version 9.0 exactly; versions before or after this specific release are not affected by this CVE
  2. Confirm ixheaacd library is present
    Check for the existence of the ixheaacd codec library in the system partition, typically found at /system/lib(64)/libixheaacd.so or similar path under /system/lib/
    Affected if The vulnerable library libixheaacd.so exists on the device, indicating the HE-AAC decoder component is installed
  3. Identify HE-AAC audio decoding usage
    Monitor process activity or audit logs for applications that decode HE-AAC audio files; check if media players or apps are processing AAC audio content
    Affected if Applications actively decode HE-AAC audio, which triggers the vulnerable ixheaacd_over_lap_add1_armv8 code path on ARM64 devices

The device is affected only if it runs Android 9.0 and contains the ixheaacd library while processing HE-AAC audio content, as the vulnerability requires the specific decoder component and ARMv8 assembly code path to be exercised.

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 Android security patch for Android-9 that includes the fix for A-112551721. This is a system-level codec library issue requiring a platform update from the device OEM; no user configuration can mitigate the vulnerability.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2018-9528 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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