CVE-2019-2157
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 libxaac, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation. Product: AndroidVersions: Android-10Android ID: A-112611363
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 · moderate confidenceIn libxaac (an AAC audio codec library included in Android 10), there is an out of bounds read vulnerability caused by a missing bounds check. This could allow an attacker to read sensitive information from memory by tricking a user into processing a specially crafted audio file. User interaction is required for exploitation.
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= 10.0CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Android version is 10.0Check the device Android version via Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'Affected if The version displayed is exactly 10.0 (Android 10)
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Confirm libxaac library is presentCheck for the libxaac library file on the device, typically found in /system/lib/ or /system/lib64/ directories using 'adb shell ls -la /system/lib*/libxaac*' or similar pathAffected if The libxaac library file exists on the device filesystem
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Identify audio processing applicationsReview which applications on the device have permission to process AAC audio files and could invoke the libxaac codec for decodingAffected if Applications that process audio files are installed and have media permissions
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Check for untrusted audio file handlingDetermine if the device is used to process audio files from untrusted or unknown sources, particularly through media players or audio editing applicationsAffected if Users process audio files from sources outside trusted app stores or known trusted sources
A device is affected if it runs Android 10.0 and has the libxaac library present, as the out-of-bounds read vulnerability can be triggered when processing a specially crafted AAC audio file.
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 dataUsers should avoid processing untrusted or suspicious audio files. The vulnerability should be addressed by updating Android to a patched version. For developers, this requires adding proper bounds validation in the libxaac library code where the missing check occurs.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-2157 — 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-2019-2157 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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