CVE-2019-1998
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 · uneditedIn event_handler of keymaster_app.c, there is possible resource exhaustion due to a table being lost on reboot. This could lead to local denial of service that is not fixed by a factory reset, with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Product: Android. Versions: Android-9. Android ID: A-116055338.
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 confidenceIn Android's keymaster component (keymaster_app.c), a resource exhaustion vulnerability exists where a table is lost on reboot. This causes a persistent local denial of service that survives factory reset, requiring no additional privileges or user interaction to exploit.
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= 9.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Android versionGo to Settings > About phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if Version is 9.0 (Pie)
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Check Android security patch levelGo to Settings > About phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shellAffected if Patch level is before January 2019 (e.g., December 2018 or earlier)
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Verify keymaster component existsCheck for keymaster trusted application binary at /vendor/bin/hw/[email protected] or /system/bin/keymaster via ADB shell with ls commandAffected if keymaster binary is present on the device (vulnerability exists in the component code)
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Test keymaster persistence after rebootReboot the device and attempt to use keystore-backed operations (e.g., create new key via KeyChain or generate new encryption key), observe for persistent failureAffected if Keymaster operations fail persistently after reboot and survive factory reset
If Android version is 9.0 with security patch level before January 2019, the device is likely affected by this persistent denial of service vulnerability in the keymaster component.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply the Android security patch level for January 2019 or later, as this is a system-level vulnerability in the keymaster trusted application that requires a firmware/OTA update from the device OEM to remediate.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,704.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-1998 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-1998 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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