CVE-2020-0336
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 SurfaceFlinger, there is possible memory corruption due to type confusion. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-11Android ID: A-153467444
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 SurfaceFlinger (Android's display compositor service), a type confusion vulnerability allows memory corruption. An attacker with System-level execution privileges can exploit this to escalate to higher privileges without user interaction. The flaw exists in how SurfaceFlinger handles object type interpretation during display composition operations.
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= 11.0CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check the Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if The version is 11.0 exactly. Versions before 11.0 or after 11.0 are not in the specific affected range listed.
-
Check the security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shellAffected if The patch level is earlier than 2020-11. If the patch level is November 2020 or later, the fix is applied.
-
Confirm system-level execution context existsReview installed apps with System-level privileges (granted via privileged system apps or enterprise management). Check for unexpected privileged processes via 'ps -A | grep surfaceflinger' in ADB shell.Affected if A malicious app or process with System-level execution privileges is present. This vulnerability requires System-level privileges to exploit, as noted in the CVE description.
-
Verify SurfaceFlinger service statusRun 'service list | grep -i surface' via ADB shell to confirm SurfaceFlinger is running, or check /vendor/etc/init/[email protected] or equivalent composer serviceAffected if SurfaceFlinger service is active on Android 11.0 with pre-November-2020 patch level, creating the condition for exploitation.
You are affected if your device runs Android 11.0 with a security patch level earlier than November 2020 and has apps or processes with System-level privileges that could potentially exploit the SurfaceFlinger type confusion flaw.
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 dataApply the Android-11 security update (patch level November 2020 or later) which contains the fix for this SurfaceFlinger type confusion vulnerability. Organizations should prioritize patching managed devices and ensure enterprise mobility management policies enforce timely system updates.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,880.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0336 — 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-2020-0336 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
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.
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.
- 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