CVE-2020-27035
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 priorLinearAllocation of C2AllocatorIon.cpp, there is a possible use-after-free due to improper locking. This could lead to local information disclosure in the media codec with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-11Android ID: A-152239213
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 priorLinearAllocation function of C2AllocatorIon.cpp in Android's media codec subsystem. The root cause is improper locking, where synchronization mechanisms fail to properly protect memory allocation/deallocation, allowing memory to be accessed after being freed. This enables local information disclosure.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Android versionRun 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android versionAffected if Version is exactly 11.0 (Android 11)
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Verify C2 Codec component is presentCheck for the presence of the media.codec service by running 'adb shell dumpsys media.codec'Affected if The C2AllocatorIon component is loaded and active in the media codec service
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Confirm Codec 2 (C2) allocator is in useRun 'adb shell dumpsys media.codec | grep -i allocator' to see which allocators are instantiatedAffected if C2AllocatorIon is listed as an active allocator in the codec output
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Check if affected media service is runningRun 'adb shell ps -A | grep media' to verify the media.codec service process is runningAffected if The media.codec service process is running on the device
A device is affected if it is running Android 11.0 and uses the C2AllocatorIon component in its media codec subsystem, as indicated by the media.codec service running and showing C2 allocator in its dump output.
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 for Android-11 that addresses this vulnerability. Organizations should ensure devices receive the October 2020 Android security update or later.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $7,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-27035 — 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-2020-27035 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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