CVE-2019-9472
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 DCRYPTO_equals of compare.c, there is a possible timing attack due to improperly used crypto. This could lead to local information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Product: Android Versions: Android kernel Android ID: A-130237611
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 confidenceIn the DCRYPTO_equals function of compare.c, a timing side-channel vulnerability exists due to improper cryptographic implementation. The comparison likely uses early-exit string comparison that leaks timing information based on when mismatched characters are found, allowing an attacker to deduce secret values through statistical analysis of operation times.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Android platform presenceIdentify if the system is running Google Android OS. Check /system/build.prop for the 'ro.build.fingerprint' or 'ro.product.model' entries, or use 'getprop' command to retrieve build properties.Affected if The system is running any version of Google Android OS.
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Locate the vulnerable compare.c componentSearch for the file compare.c in the system's cryptographic libraries. Common paths include /system/lib/ or /vendor/lib/. Use 'find /system -name compare.c 2>/dev/null' or check for libraries that may contain the DCRYPTO_equals function.Affected if The compare.c file containing DCRYPTO_equals exists in the Android system libraries.
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Identify DCRYPTO_equals function usageUse 'grep -r DCRYPTO_equals /system' or 'strings' on cryptographic libraries to locate where this function is called. Check for any crypto-related binaries or libraries that may reference this function.Affected if The DCRYPTO_equals function is present and linked in any cryptographic component on the device.
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Verify constant-time comparison is not enforcedReview the system's cryptographic configuration or any custom security policies. Check if the device uses a custom ROM or if the vendor has patched the timing vulnerability. Inspect any custom crypto implementations in /system/etc/security/ or vendor-specific crypto modules.Affected if The system uses the default Android timing-vulnerable DCRYPTO_equals without a constant-time replacement.
If the device runs Google Android OS with the vulnerable DCRYPTO_equals function present in its cryptographic components, it is affected by this timing side-channel vulnerability.
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 dataReplace the timing-vulnerable comparison with a constant-time cryptographic comparison function (e.g., using constant-time memcmp or dedicated crypto libraries) that takes the same time regardless of where a mismatch occurs.
- 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-2019-9472 — 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-2019-9472 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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