dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-0242

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 reset of NuPlayerDriver.cpp, there is a possible use-after-free due to improper locking. This could lead to local escalation of privilege in the media server with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-8.0 Android-8.1 Android-9 Android-10Android ID: A-151643722

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 use-after-free vulnerability exists in the NuPlayerDriver media server component of Android due to improper locking in the reset function. The race condition allows a local attacker to achieve privilege escalation in the media server process without requiring user interaction or additional execution privileges.

MitigationApply Android security patches that address this vulnerability. Until patches are available, minimize exposure by restricting access to untrusted apps and monitoring for unusual media server behavior.

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:= 8.0= 8.1= 9.0= 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
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. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if The version matches 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, or 10.0 exactly
  2. Verify media server is accessible
    Check if media server processes (mediaserver, media.extractorservice) are running via 'ps | grep media' or in Settings > Apps > Running services
    Affected if Media server processes are active and the Android version is one of the affected releases
  3. Check NuPlayerDriver component status
    Examine logs for NuPlayerDriver activity using 'logcat | grep NuPlayer' or review SELinux/mediaserver policy enforcement status
    Affected if NuPlayerDriver reset operations are occurring on an affected Android version

You are affected if your device runs Android 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, or 10.0 and the media server component is active.

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 Android security patches that address this vulnerability. Until patches are available, minimize exposure by restricting access to untrusted apps and monitoring for unusual media server behavior.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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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-2020-0242 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