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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-0041

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild 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 binder_transaction of binder.c, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android kernelAndroid ID: A-145988638References: Upstream kernel

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

A vulnerability in the Android/Linux kernel's binder driver (binder_transaction function) contains an incorrect bounds check that can lead to an out-of-bounds write. This allows a local attacker to escalate privileges to root without requiring additional execution privileges or user interaction.

MitigationApply the upstream kernel patch for CVE-2020-0041, which corrects the bounds check in binder_transaction. Android devices require the manufacturer security update that includes this kernel fix.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 device runs Android
    Check the operating system by examining /system/build.prop or running 'getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if The device is not running Android - this CVE is Android-specific
  2. Check the Android security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' or view the security patch date in Settings > About Phone > Security patch level
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than March 2020, when the fix was released
  3. Check the kernel version
    Run 'uname -r' or view /proc/version to identify the kernel version
    Affected if The kernel version predates the March 2020 security update containing the fix
  4. Confirm binder driver is present
    Check if /dev/binder exists or run 'ls -la /dev/binder' - the binder driver must be loaded for this vulnerability to be exploitable
    Affected if The binder driver is not loaded or the device does not use the binder IPC mechanism

A device is affected if it runs Android and lacks the March 2020 or later security update containing the CVE-2020-0041 patch in the kernel binder driver.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the upstream kernel patch for CVE-2020-0041, which corrects the bounds check in binder_transaction. Android devices require the manufacturer security update that includes this kernel fix.

Recommended fix High confidence

March 2020 Android Security Patch Level or later (Android ID A-145988638)

  1. Check current Android security patch level on the device in Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
  2. Verify if the device has received the March 2020 Android Security Patch or later, which contains the fix for CVE-2020-0041
  3. If the device is not on the March 2020 patch or later, check with the device manufacturer for an available security update
  4. For enterprise/IT-managed devices, deploy the latest Android security update through your mobile device management (MDM) console
  5. If no manufacturer update is available, consider replacing the device or implementing additional mobile threat defense (MTD) solutions to detect exploitation attempts
  6. For developers building custom kernels, apply the upstream Linux kernel fix for the binder bounds check vulnerability in binder.c
Caveat Security updates for older Android devices may not be available; some older devices may no longer receive patches from manufacturers

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2020-0041 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