AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2018-9566

MEDIUM · 5.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-12-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 process_service_search_rsp of sdp_discovery.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to remote information disclosure when connecting to a malicious Bluetooth device with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation. Product: Android. Versions: Android-7.0 Android-7.1.1 Android-7.1.2 Android-8.0 Android-8.1 Android-9. Android ID: A-74249842.

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

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in the Bluetooth SDP (Service Discovery Protocol) processing code (sdp_discovery.c) in Android. When processing a malicious service search response, the code fails to validate bounds before reading data, potentially allowing a remote attacker to leak sensitive memory contents by tricking a user into connecting to a crafted Bluetooth device.

MitigationUsers should avoid pairing with untrusted or unknown Bluetooth devices. Apply Android security updates (particularly the January 2019 bulletin) which addresses this vulnerability in the Bluetooth stack.

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:= 7.0= 7.1.1= 7.1.2= 8.0= 8.1= 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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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. Check Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if The installed version is 7.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0
  2. Verify Bluetooth is enabled
    Check Settings > Bluetooth, or run 'settings get global bluetooth_on' via ADB shell (returns 1 if enabled)
    Affected if Bluetooth is turned on and the device is discoverable or has paired devices
  3. Confirm Bluetooth stack is active
    Run 'service list' via ADB shell and check for bluetooth service, or check that Bluetooth has been used recently
    Affected if The Bluetooth service is running and capable of accepting connections
  4. Review paired Bluetooth devices
    Go to Settings > Bluetooth > Paired devices, or run 'bdaddr' via ADB shell to list paired devices
    Affected if There are paired devices or the device has previously connected to other Bluetooth devices

A device is affected if it runs Android 7.0 through 9.0 and has Bluetooth enabled with the ability to accept or initiate Bluetooth connections, as the out-of-bounds read triggers during SDP response processing from a malicious device.

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

Users should avoid pairing with untrusted or unknown Bluetooth devices. Apply Android security updates (particularly the January 2019 bulletin) which addresses this vulnerability in the Bluetooth stack.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,940
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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-2018-9566 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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