AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-0061

MEDIUM · 5.5 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 →
57/100
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 Pixel Recorder, there is a possible permissions bypass allowing arbitrary apps to record audio. This could lead to local information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android kernelAndroid ID: A-145504977

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 Pixel Recorder (a pre-installed app on Google Pixel devices), there is a permissions bypass vulnerability that allows arbitrary applications to record audio without proper authorization. This local information disclosure requires no user interaction and no elevated privileges to exploit.

MitigationUpdate Pixel Recorder to the latest version available via Google Play Store, or ensure Android security updates are applied which typically include updates to bundled applications.

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:= 10.0

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if Version equals 10.0 exactly (Android 10)
  2. Verify Pixel Recorder is installed
    Check for the Pixel Recorder app in the app drawer or run 'adb shell pm list packages | grep recorder'
    Affected if Pixel Recorder package (com.google.android.apps.recorder) is present on the device
  3. Confirm device is a Google Pixel
    Check the device model via Settings > About Phone > Model or run 'adb shell getprop ro.product.model'
    Affected if Device is a Google Pixel model (Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, Pixel 4 series, etc.)

If the device runs Android 10.0 and has Pixel Recorder installed (typical on Pixel devices), the environment is affected by this permissions bypass vulnerability.

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

Update Pixel Recorder to the latest version available via Google Play Store, or ensure Android security updates are applied which typically include updates to bundled applications.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
3.0 hours of engineering $750
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2020-0061 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