CVE-2020-0434
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 Pixel's use of the Catpipe library, there is possible memory corruption due to a use after free. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android kernelAndroid ID: A-150730508
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 confidenceA use-after-free vulnerability exists in the Catpipe library used by Pixel devices within the Android kernel. This memory corruption flaw allows a local attacker to escalate privileges to root without requiring user interaction or additional execution privileges.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Android security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Android security patch level. Alternatively, run `adb shell settings get secure android.security_patch`Affected if The patch level is earlier than the date when A-150730508 was addressed (typically September 2020 or later required) or if the field is empty/unset
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Identify kernel versionRun `adb shell uname -r` or check in Settings > About Phone > Kernel versionAffected if The kernel version predates the fix for CVE-2020-0434 (no specific version number provided, but pre-September 2020 kernels are likely vulnerable)
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Verify Catpipe library presence in kernelRun `adb shell ls /sys/module/catpipe` or check kernel config for CATPIPE module: `adb shell zcat /proc/config.gz | grep -i catpipe`Affected if The catpipe module exists in the kernel (vulnerable component is present)
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Confirm device is a Google PixelRun `adb shell getprop ro.product.model` to identify the device modelAffected if The device is a Google Pixel model running an unpatched Android version (Pixel devices are explicitly mentioned as affected)
The device is affected if it runs any Android version without the security patch addressing A-150730508 (typically before September 2020) and contains the vulnerable Catpipe kernel module.
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 security patch level that addresses A-150730508. This typically requires updating the Android kernel with the fixed Catpipe library code.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,960.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0434 — 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-2020-0434 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
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- 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
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