AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-9270

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-09-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 the Android kernel in unifi and r8180 WiFi drivers there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.

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 the Android kernel, the unifi and r8180 WiFi drivers contain an out-of-bounds write vulnerability caused by a missing bounds check. This allows a local attacker to escalate privileges to root without requiring any additional execution privileges or user interaction.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided kernel patch that adds proper bounds validation to the affected WiFi driver code, then rebuild and deploy the updated kernel to affected devices.

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:all versions

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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. Identify if the device uses unifi or r8180 WiFi drivers
    Examine the kernel module directory (typically /lib/modules/) or check loaded kernel modules using 'lsmod' and look for module names containing 'unifi' or 'r8180', or check the kernel configuration file (usually /boot/config-* or /proc/config.gz) for CONFIG_UNIFI or CONFIG_R8180
    Affected if The unifi or r8180 WiFi driver module is present or enabled in the kernel configuration
  2. Check if the WiFi driver is actively loaded or compiled into the kernel
    Run 'lsmod | grep -E "unifi|r8180"' to check for loaded modules, or check 'ifconfig -a' or 'iwconfig' to see if a WiFi interface exists that may be using these drivers
    Affected if The WiFi driver module is loaded or a wireless interface is present using these drivers
  3. Verify the kernel source or module source for missing bounds checks
    If kernel source is accessible, locate the unifi and r8180 driver source files (typically in drivers/net/wireless/) and inspect the data handling code for the specific function that performs buffer operations without bounds validation, as described in the CVE advisory
    Affected if The driver source code lacks proper bounds checking in functions that handle external input to memory buffers
  4. Check the Android kernel version and build information
    Run 'uname -a' or check /proc/version to identify the kernel build, then compare against any available patch information from the device manufacturer
    Affected if The device runs an Android kernel build that has not been patched with the vendor-provided bounds validation fix

The device is affected if it uses the unifi or r8180 WiFi driver and the kernel has not been updated with the bounds check patch that addresses the out-of-bounds write vulnerability.

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 vendor-provided kernel patch that adds proper bounds validation to the affected WiFi driver code, then rebuild and deploy the updated kernel to affected devices.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,880
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,808.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-9270 — 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-2019-9270 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