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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0344

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-02-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 mtkpower, there is a possible memory corruption due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Product: Android; Versions: Android-10, Android-11; Patch ID: ALPS05437558.

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

The mtkpower MediaTek power management daemon contains a memory corruption vulnerability due to a missing bounds check. This allows a local attacker with System-level execution privileges to escalate to root privileges without user interaction.

MitigationApply the vendor security patch ALPS05437558 through Android system updates. As this is a MediaTek-proprietary component, contact the device manufacturer for the specific fix.

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:= 10.0= 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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify MediaTek chipset presence
    Check if the mtkpower daemon exists on the device by running 'ls -la /vendor/bin/mtkpower' or 'which mtkpower' in a shell with ADB access. This component is MediaTek-proprietary and only exists on MediaTek-powered Android devices.
    Affected if The mtkpower binary is present on the device, indicating a MediaTek chipset is in use.
  2. Confirm Android version
    Check the installed Android version by going to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell.
    Affected if The device runs Android 10.0 or exactly 11.0.
  3. Check security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell to retrieve the installed security patch level, or check Settings > About Phone > Security patch level.
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than ALPS05437558, meaning the vendor fix has not been applied.

The device is affected if it has the mtkpower MediaTek component, runs Android 10.0 or 11.0, and has a security patch level earlier than ALPS05437558.

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 security patch ALPS05437558 through Android system updates. As this is a MediaTek-proprietary component, contact the device manufacturer for the specific fix.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2021-0344 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