AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-2125

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-08-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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 ChangeDefaultDialerDialog.java, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to an overlay attack. This could lead to local escalation of privilege, granting privileges to a local app without the user's informed consent, with no additional 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-132275252.

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

In ChangeDefaultDialerDialog.java on Android 7.0-9, a malicious local app can perform an overlay attack to manipulate the default dialer selection dialog, tricking users into granting default dialer privileges without informed consent, achieving local privilege escalation.

MitigationApply the Google Android security patch (A-132275252) for CVE-2019-2125. Until patched, warn users against installing untrusted applications and scrutinize default app permission requests.

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 affected
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if The version listed is 7.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8.0, 8.1, or 9.0
  2. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell
    Affected if The patch level is earlier than the date of the A-132275252 fix (or the specific patch date for this CVE is not present)
  3. Verify overlay permission is granted to apps
    Go to Settings > Apps > Special access > Draw over other apps, or run 'adb shell appops get <package> SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW' for specific apps
    Affected if Any untrusted or unfamiliar app is listed with permission to draw over other apps enabled

A device is affected if it runs Android 7.0-9.0 without the A-132275252 security patch and has untrusted apps with overlay (SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW) permission enabled.

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 Google Android security patch (A-132275252) for CVE-2019-2125. Until patched, warn users against installing untrusted applications and scrutinize default app permission requests.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,280
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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-2019-2125 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