AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0530

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 memory management driver, there is a possible out of bounds write due to uninitialized data. 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-185196175

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

In the Android memory management driver, there is a possible out of bounds write due to uninitialized data. This could lead to local privilege escalation with no additional execution privileges needed and no user interaction required.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied security patch through the Android monthly security update process; this requires updating the SoC-specific kernel driver from the chipset manufacturer.

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:all versions

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check Android Security Patch Level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level (or Settings > System > Security > Security Patch Level on newer Android versions). Record the date shown.
    Affected if The Security Patch Level is earlier than February 2021, or the patch level does not include the CVE-2021-0530 fix (contact your device vendor to confirm if this specific CVE is included in your installed patch).
  2. Verify kernel version for context
    On the device, run 'uname -r' via ADB shell or terminal app, or check in Settings > About Phone > Kernel Version.
    Affected if The kernel version alone does not confirm vulnerability status; all Android kernel versions are affected until patched. Use this for inventory purposes only.
  3. Confirm device vendor support status
    Check if your device manufacturer (OEM) has released a security update for CVE-2021-0530. This can be done by reviewing the device security bulletin on the vendor's support website or contacting the vendor directly.
    Affected if The device is no longer receiving monthly security updates from the OEM, indicating the vulnerability likely remains unpatched.

A user is affected if their Android Security Patch Level is older than the month when CVE-2021-0530 was addressed in the Android monthly security update (typically included in the February 2021 bulletin or later), and the device is not receiving vendor security updates.

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-supplied security patch through the Android monthly security update process; this requires updating the SoC-specific kernel driver from the chipset manufacturer.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0530 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-0530 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