CVE-2019-2104
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 HIDL, safe_union, and other C++ structs/unions being sent to application processes, there are uninitialized fields. This could lead to local information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Product: Android. Versions: Android-8.0 Android-8.1 Android-9. Android ID: A-131356202
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 HIDL (Hardware Interface Definition Language), C++ structs and unions (including safe_union) passed to application processes contain uninitialized fields. When these structures are transmitted from HAL processes to application processes, the uninitialized memory contents from the kernel/HAL stack can be leaked to the receiving application, enabling local information disclosure without requiring additional privileges or user interaction.
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= 8.0= 8.1= 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Android versionRun 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android versionAffected if The version is 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0
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Confirm HIDL is in useHIDL is used for HAL communication in Android 8.0 and above. Check for HIDL services by running 'ls /vendor/etc/init/' or 'lshal' command if availableAffected if The device uses HIDL for HAL communication, which is default for Android 8.0-9.0
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Check for HAL process to app communicationThe vulnerability affects data passed from HAL processes to app processes via HIDL. Identify HAL interfaces in use: run 'lshal debug' or check /hardware/interfaces/ for HIDL .hal filesAffected if Any HIDL struct or union is passed from a HAL process to an application process
A device is affected if it runs Android 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0 and uses HIDL for communication between HAL and application processes, as the uninitialized memory leak occurs in the HIDL serialization layer.
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 Android security patches for the affected versions (Android 8.0, 8.1, and 9). The vulnerability requires platform-level code changes to ensure all HIDL struct/union fields are properly initialized before being sent to application processes.
- Consultation12.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-2104 — 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-2019-2104 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
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