AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-2169

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-09-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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 libxaac there is a possible information disclosure due to uninitialized data. This could lead to information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation. Product: AndroidVersions: Android-10Android ID: A-118492282

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 confidence

In libxaac (an AAC audio decoding library used in Android), uninitialized data can be disclosed to an attacker. This occurs when memory is not properly initialized before use, potentially exposing sensitive information from memory. The vulnerability requires user interaction to trigger, likely through a specially crafted audio file processed by the library.

MitigationApply vendor-provided patches for Android-10 that include proper memory initialization in libxaac. Users should apply system updates promptly to receive the fix.

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:= 10.0

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Android version is 10.0
    Check the device settings under Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if The device is running Android version 10.0 exactly (Android Q)
  2. Confirm libxaac library is present
    Check if /system/lib64/libxaac.so or /system/lib/libxaac.so exists on the device using ADB command: 'adb shell ls -la /system/lib*/libxaac.so'
    Affected if The libxaac library file exists on the device, indicating the library is installed as part of the system firmware
  3. Check libxaac library version
    Run 'adb shell dumpsys package com.android.providers.media' or inspect the library file metadata using 'adb shell dumpsys media.audio_flinger' to identify the library version if exposed
    Affected if The library version cannot be directly determined on consumer devices, but the mere presence of libxaac on Android 10.0 indicates potential exposure to the vulnerability
  4. Identify audio processing pathways
    Determine if any apps or system services process AAC audio files (common in media players, browsers, messaging apps). Check which apps have permission to access media and audio libraries
    Affected if Any application or system service that processes untrusted AAC audio files using libxaac can trigger the uninitialized memory disclosure when a specially crafted file is played or processed

A device is affected if it runs Android 10.0 and contains the libxaac library, with the vulnerability triggered when processing a specially crafted AAC audio file through any app using the library.

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 vendor-provided patches for Android-10 that include proper memory initialization in libxaac. Users should apply system updates promptly to receive the fix.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-2169 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-2169 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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