AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-9271

MEDIUM · 6.4 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 →
66/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 the mnh driver there is a race condition due to insufficient locking. This could lead to a use-after-free which could lead to escalation of privilege with System 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 mnh driver contains a race condition caused by insufficient locking mechanisms. This vulnerability enables a use-after-free condition that can be exploited to escalate privileges to System level without requiring user interaction.

MitigationApply the appropriate Android security patch from the monthly security bulletin that addresses CVE-2019-9271, which includes proper synchronization fixes for the mnh driver.

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
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/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. Confirm Android platform
    Run 'getprop ro.build.id' or check /system/build.prop to verify the device runs Google Android OS
    Affected if The device is not running Google Android (this CVE only applies to Android)
  2. Identify mnh driver presence
    Check if the mnh driver is loaded or compiled in the kernel by running 'grep -i mnh /proc/modules' (for loaded modules) or checking kernel config at /boot/config-* or /proc/config.gz if available
    Affected if The mnh driver is present or loaded in the kernel (the vulnerability exists only if this driver is enabled)
  3. Check Android security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to retrieve the installed monthly security patch date
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the month when CVE-2019-9271 was patched (Google Android all versions were affected until patched)
  4. Verify kernel version
    Run 'uname -r' to obtain the running kernel version, then cross-reference with the kernel version that includes the mnh driver synchronization fix
    Affected if The kernel version predates the patch that added proper locking to the mnh driver

A user is affected if the device runs Google Android with the mnh driver present and a security patch level earlier than the CVE-2019-9271 fix date.

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 appropriate Android security patch from the monthly security bulletin that addresses CVE-2019-9271, which includes proper synchronization fixes for the mnh driver.

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
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-9271 — 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-2019-9271 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