AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-0270

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-09-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 tremolo, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to remote information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-11Android ID: A-145790628

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

In the tremolo library (used for vorbis audio decoding in Android), an out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists due to a missing bounds check. An attacker could exploit this by providing a specially crafted audio file that triggers the vulnerability during decoding, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents. User interaction is required, such as playing a malicious audio file.

MitigationApply the vendor patch for CVE-2020-0270 to the tremolo library in Android 11. Until then, exercise caution with untrusted audio sources and verify audio files before processing.

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:= 11.0

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Identify Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version to confirm the installed Android version
    Affected if The device is running Android 11.0 specifically (version 11.0, not 10 or 12)
  2. Confirm vorbis audio support is present
    Check if any applications on the device can decode vorbis audio files (common in media players, ringtone apps, or audio messaging apps). Search for apps that handle .ogg audio files or look for 'vorbis' in installed packages via 'pm list packages | grep -i vorbis'
    Affected if Any vorbis-capable audio application is installed and could be used to play a malicious audio file
  3. Locate tremolo library
    Search for the tremolo library file on the system: 'find / -name "libtremor*" 2>/dev/null' or 'find / -name "*tremolo*" 2>/dev/null' in a rooted shell, or check /system/lib/ and /vendor/lib/ directories
    Affected if The tremolo or vorbis decoding library (libtremor.so, libvorbis.so, or similar) is present on the device
  4. Verify audio file processing capability
    Check if any apps have permission to open or process audio files from untrusted sources (check app permissions for storage or media access). Attempt to play a test vorbis (.ogg) file using the device's default media player
    Affected if The device can process vorbis audio files from external or untrusted sources without additional verification

The device is affected if it runs Android 11.0 and has any application capable of decoding vorbis audio files, which could be triggered by playing a specially crafted malicious audio file.

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 the vendor patch for CVE-2020-0270 to the tremolo library in Android 11. Until then, exercise caution with untrusted audio sources and verify audio files before processing.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,808.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0270 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-0270 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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