CVE-2021-0494
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 memory management driver, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an integer overflow. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android SoCAndroid ID: A-183461318
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 · moderate confidenceAn integer overflow vulnerability in the Android SoC memory management driver allows an out-of-bounds write, enabling local privilege escalation without user interaction.
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 > Security Patch Level (or Settings > System > Security > Security Patch Level on some devices). Record the date shown.Affected if The Security Patch Level is earlier than the month the CVE was fixed (CVE-2021-0494 was fixed in the Android security bulletin for April 2021 or later).
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Verify SoC firmware versionIdentify your device's SoC manufacturer (Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung Exynos, etc.) via Settings > About Phone > CPU/Processor or by checking the device specifications. Then check for firmware updates from your device OEM or SoC vendor.Affected if No firmware update from the device OEM or SoC vendor addressing this vulnerability has been applied.
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Check kernel memory management driver versionOn a rooted device, examine the kernel driver module responsible for memory management operations. The exact module name varies by SoC (often found under /proc/modules or in /sys/module/). Use 'cat /proc/version' to identify the kernel version and build.Affected if The running kernel version predates the April 2021 Android security patch or the vendor-specific fix has not been applied.
A user is affected if their device runs an Android version with a Security Patch Level earlier than April 2021 and has not received a corresponding SoC vendor firmware update for the memory management driver.
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 includes the fix for this memory management driver vulnerability (typically delivered via SoC vendor firmware updates).
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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 $5,536.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0494 — 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-2021-0494 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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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.
- 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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