dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0515

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-07-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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 Factory::CreateStrictFunctionMap of factory.cc, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check. This could lead to remote code execution in an unprivileged process with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-9 Android-10 Android-11 Android-8.1Android ID: A-167389063

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

A critical out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in Android's Factory component (factory.cc) in the CreateStrictFunctionMap function due to an incorrect bounds check. This memory corruption flaw allows remote code execution in an unprivileged process without any user interaction, enabling attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the vulnerable factory service.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied Android security patch (A-167389063) which corrects the bounds checking logic in factory.cc. Organizations should prioritize deploying the relevant Android security update across affected devices (Android 8.1, 9, 10, 11) immediately given the critical severity and trivial exploitability.

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:= 8.1= 9.0= 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 OS version
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if The version listed is 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 exactly (not a later security patch version)
  2. Verify Factory service accessibility
    Run 'adb shell dumpsys activity service FactoryService' or check if the factory service is running via 'adb shell ps -A | grep factory'
    Affected if The Factory service is running and responds to requests on an affected Android version
  3. Confirm security patch level
    Run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to check the installed security patch date
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than 2021-03-05 (the date the fix was released) on Android 8.1-11.0

You are affected if your device runs Android 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 and has not received the March 2021 Android security patch (A-167389063) that corrects the bounds check in factory.cc.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied Android security patch (A-167389063) which corrects the bounds checking logic in factory.cc. Organizations should prioritize deploying the relevant Android security update across affected devices (Android 8.1, 9, 10, 11) immediately given the critical severity and trivial exploitability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android Security Patch Level May 2021 or later for Android 8.1, 9, 10, and 11

  1. Open Settings on the Android device
  2. Navigate to System > Security (or Settings > Security & Location on some devices)
  3. Tap on 'Security patch level' or 'Google Security Patch Level'
  4. Ensure the device has the May 2021 Android Security Patch Level or later installed
  5. If an update is available, download and install it immediately
  6. After update, verify the security patch level shows May 2021 or later in the settings
Caveat No breaking changes; security patches are backward-compatible updates

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-0515 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