AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2019-9441

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.0 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 the mnh driver there is a possible out of bounds write due to improper input validation. This 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 · moderate confidence

In the Android kernel mnh driver, an out of bounds write vulnerability exists due to improper input validation. The flaw allows an attacker with System-level execution privileges to potentially escalate privileges by writing beyond allocated buffer boundaries. No user interaction is required for exploitation.

MitigationApply the Android kernel security patch for CVE-2019-9441 which adds proper input validation bounds checking in the mnh driver to prevent out of bounds memory writes.

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:3.0/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. Check if the mnh driver is loaded in the kernel
    Examine the list of loaded kernel modules by running `cat /proc/modules` or `lsmod` and search for entries containing 'mnh'
    Affected if The mnh driver module appears in the loaded modules list, indicating the vulnerable component is active
  2. Check kernel configuration for mnh driver support
    Look for mnh driver configuration in the kernel build configuration files: check /boot/config-$(uname -r), /proc/config.gz, or files in /usr/src/linux/.config for lines containing CONFIG_MNH_
    Affected if A kernel configuration option starting with CONFIG_MNH_ is set to 'y' (built-in) or 'm' (module), confirming the driver is included in the kernel build
  3. Verify the running kernel version
    Run `uname -r` to obtain the kernel version and compare it against the date when Android kernel security patches for CVE-2019-9441 were released (patches were included in Android kernel 4.14, 4.9, and 4.4 stable branches around mid-2019)
    Affected if The kernel version predates the mid-2019 security patches or the system has not received the CVE-2019-9441 kernel patch
  4. Check for presence of mnh driver device nodes
    Examine /dev/ or /sys/class/ for mnh-related device entries by running `ls /dev/*mnh* 2>/dev/null` or searching in /sys for mnh directories
    Affected if Device nodes or sysfs entries related to mnh exist, indicating the driver is present and the vulnerable code path may be accessible

The system is affected if the mnh driver is loaded or built into the kernel on an unpatched Android system running a kernel version predating the CVE-2019-9441 security updates.

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 kernel security patch for CVE-2019-9441 which adds proper input validation bounds checking in the mnh driver to prevent out of bounds memory writes.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-9441 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