AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-9391

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 out of bounds read 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-111050781

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 (Android's AAC audio decoder), an out of bounds read vulnerability exists due to uninitialized data being read from memory. This allows information disclosure - potentially exposing sensitive data from process memory - without requiring elevated privileges, though user interaction (e.g., playing a crafted audio file) is needed to trigger the vulnerable code path.

MitigationEnsure libxaac is updated to a version that properly initializes all data structures and buffers before reading. Until a patch is available, avoid processing untrusted AAC audio files with Android-10 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:= 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 shell
    Affected if The version is exactly Android 10.0 (API level 29)
  2. Confirm libxaac library presence
    Check for the library file at /system/lib64/libaudiofoundation.so or similar libxaac references using 'find /system -name "*xaac*"' via ADB shell
    Affected if libxaac or related audio libraries exist on the device
  3. Identify AAC audio processing capability
    Check if any apps can process AAC audio files by examining installed media players or running 'pm list packages | grep -i audio' via ADB shell
    Affected if Applications capable of playing AAC audio files are installed
  4. Check for untrusted audio file processing
    Determine if the device accepts AAC audio files from external or untrusted sources, such as receiving files via messaging apps or downloading from the web
    Affected if Users can open or play AAC files from untrusted sources on the device

The environment is affected if running Android 10.0 and any application on the device can process AAC audio files from untrusted sources, enabling the out-of-bounds read in libxaac.

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

Ensure libxaac is updated to a version that properly initializes all data structures and buffers before reading. Until a patch is available, avoid processing untrusted AAC audio files with Android-10 devices.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-9391 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