AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-9408

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 libavc there is a possible information disclosure due to uninitialized data. This could lead to remote information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation. Product: AndroidVersions: Android-10Android ID: A-112380157

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 libavc (a video codec library used in Android), there is a possible information disclosure vulnerability due to uninitialized data being read and potentially exposed. This could allow remote attackers to disclose sensitive information through specially crafted video content, requiring user interaction to trigger the vulnerable code path.

MitigationApply the Android security patch level for Android-10 that addresses CVE-2019-9408. Ensure devices receive regular security updates from the device manufacturer.

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. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if The device is running Android 10.0 exactly (version 10.0)
  2. Verify libavc library presence
    Check if the libavc library is present on the device by running 'adb shell ls -la /system/lib/libavc*' or '/vendor/lib/libavc*'
    Affected if The libavc library exists on the device (required for the vulnerability to apply)
  3. Confirm video playback usage
    Monitor which applications use video playback functionality that could invoke the libavc decoder (such as video players, browsers, messaging apps)
    Affected if Any app that decodes video content using libavc is present and could trigger the vulnerable code path
  4. Review installed video handling apps
    List all installed applications that handle video media (video players, social media apps, messaging apps) which could process specially crafted video content
    Affected if Video-capable applications are installed that process external video content
  5. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch'
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the Android-10 security update containing the fix for CVE-2019-9408

The device is affected if it runs Android 10.0, has the libavc library present, and processes video content from untrusted sources before applying the relevant Android security patch.

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 Android security patch level for Android-10 that addresses CVE-2019-9408. Ensure devices receive regular security updates from the device manufacturer.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-9408 — 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-2019-9408 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