dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0356

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-02-03
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 netdiag, there is a possible command injection due to improper input validation. 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: ALPS05442014.

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

CVE-2021-0356 is a command injection vulnerability in Android's netdiag (network diagnostics) component. The vulnerability stems from improper input validation, allowing a local attacker with System-level privileges to execute arbitrary commands and escalate to full root privileges. No user interaction is required for exploitation.

MitigationApply Android security patch ALPS05442014, which addresses Android-10 and Android-11 versions. This is a platform-level fix delivered through monthly Android Security Bulletin updates.

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. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via adb shell
    Affected if The version reads exactly 10.0 or exactly 11.0 (note the '=' in the CVE means these specific versions, not ranges)
  2. Verify security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via adb shell
    Affected if The patch level is earlier than ALPS05442014, meaning the ALPS05442014 fix has not been applied
  3. Confirm System-level access exists
    Run 'dumpsys package' and look for apps holding android.permission.SYSTEM_ALLOWED, or check for root access via 'su' command
    Affected if Any app or process holds System-level privileges, which is standard on Android but required for this exploitation path

You are affected if your Android version is exactly 10.0 or 11.0 AND your security patch level is older than ALPS05442014.

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 Android security patch ALPS05442014, which addresses Android-10 and Android-11 versions. This is a platform-level fix delivered through monthly Android Security Bulletin updates.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,940
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,304.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0356 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2021-0356 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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