CVE-2019-9470
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 · uneditedIn dma_sblk_start of abc-pcie.c, 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. Product: Android Versions: Android kernel Android ID: A-144167528
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 confidenceA missing bounds check in the dma_sblk_start function of the abc-pcie.c PCI Express driver in the Android kernel allows an out-of-bounds write. This memory corruption vulnerability can be exploited locally to escalate privileges from System execution level, without requiring user interaction.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Android kernel versionRun 'uname -r' or check Settings > About Phone > Kernel version. Compare against the patch release date (February 2019).Affected if Kernel version predates February 2019 and the abc-pcie driver is present on the device.
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Verify driver presence in kernel configurationCheck if CONFIG_ABC_PCIE is enabled in /proc/config.gz or by examining the kernel build configuration files. On the device, you may need to check /boot/config-* or the kernel source configuration.Affected if The abc-pcie driver (CONFIG_ABC_PCIE) is enabled in the kernel configuration.
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Check if driver is loaded as a kernel moduleRun 'lsmod' to list loaded kernel modules and look for 'abc_pcie' or similar. Also check /sys/module/ for the driver module.Affected if The abc_pcie module is loaded and actively running.
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Check for driver device usageExamine /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ or /dev/ for PCIe device nodes. Run 'lspci' if available to list PCI Express devices that may use this driver.Affected if PCI Express devices managed by the abc-pcie driver are present and active on the system.
The device is likely affected if it runs an Android kernel from before the February 2019 patch, has the abc-pcie driver enabled/loaded, and uses hardware that relies on this driver.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply the vendor patch for Android ID A-144167528 which adds proper bounds validation in the dma_sblk_start function to prevent the out-of-bounds write. This is a kernel driver patch requiring kernel rebuild and system update.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-9470 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-9470 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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