AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2020-0340

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 libcodec2_soft_mp3dec, there is a possible information disclosure due to uninitialized data. 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-144901522

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 libcodec2_soft_mp3dec, a media codec library for MP3 decoding on Android-11, uninitialized memory data may be disclosed when processing malformed MP3 audio files. This information disclosure occurs because the decoder fails to properly initialize data buffers before use, potentially exposing kernel or userspace memory contents to an attacker who provides a specially crafted audio file.

MitigationApply the Android-11 security patch (via system update from OEM/carrier) to obtain the fix for libcodec2_soft_mp3dec; until then, avoid opening audio files from untrusted sources.

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. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if Version is exactly 11.0 (Android 11)
  2. Identify if libcodec2_soft_mp3dec is present
    Check for the library file at /system/lib64/libcodec2_soft_mp3dec.so (or /system/lib/ on 32-bit devices) using a file manager or ADB command 'ls -la /system/lib64/libcodec2_soft_mp3dec.so'
    Affected if The library file exists on the device
  3. Verify MP3 codec is in use
    Check if MP3 decoding is enabled by examining the media codec configuration or by attempting to play an MP3 file; on Android this is typically handled by MediaCodecList or the media.codecs.xml configuration
    Affected if The device processes MP3 files using libcodec2_soft_mp3dec as the decoder
  4. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the October 2020 Android security update (or the device has not received the CVE-2020-0340 fix)

A user is affected if the device runs Android 11.0 and uses libcodec2_soft_mp3dec for MP3 decoding without having received the corresponding security patch.

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 Android-11 security patch (via system update from OEM/carrier) to obtain the fix for libcodec2_soft_mp3dec; until then, avoid opening audio files from untrusted sources.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $880
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0340 — 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-2020-0340 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