AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-9426

MEDIUM · 6.7 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 →
69/100
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 Bluetooth there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local 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's Bluetooth subsystem, an out of bounds write vulnerability exists due to a missing bounds check. This allows a local attacker with System-level privileges to escalate to higher privileges by writing beyond allocated buffer boundaries in kernel memory.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided kernel security patch for CVE-2019-9426 which adds proper bounds validation in the Bluetooth stack. Ensure Android devices receive monthly security updates.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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. Verify the Android version
    Check Settings > About Phone to confirm the Android OS version. This vulnerability affects all Android versions.
    Affected if The device runs any version of Android, as all versions are affected per the CVE scope.
  2. Check the security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level. This indicates whether the vendor fix for CVE-2019-9426 has been applied.
    Affected if The Security patch level is earlier than the month when the CVE-2019-9426 fix was released, meaning the bounds check patch is missing.
  3. Identify the kernel version
    Run `uname -r` or check /proc/version to examine the kernel build. Compare it against kernel versions that include the Bluetooth bounds check fix.
    Affected if The kernel version predates the fix commit that added proper bounds validation in the Bluetooth stack.
  4. Confirm Bluetooth subsystem is accessible
    Verify that Bluetooth functionality is present and enabled on the device. Check if Bluetooth is toggleable in Settings or via `settings get global bluetooth_on`.
    Affected if Bluetooth is available on the device. The vulnerability exists in the Bluetooth kernel subsystem, so it is only exploitable when that component is present.

A device is affected if it runs Android with a security patch level predating the CVE-2019-9426 fix and has an unpatched kernel version, regardless of Bluetooth being actively used, since the vulnerable code path exists in the kernel module.

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 security patch for CVE-2019-9426 which adds proper bounds validation in the Bluetooth stack. Ensure Android devices receive monthly security updates.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,580
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-9426 — 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-2019-9426 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