CVE-2021-0533
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 memory corruption due to a race condition. 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-185193932
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 confidenceA race condition in the Android memory management driver can cause memory corruption, enabling a local attacker to escalate privileges without additional execution privileges. The vulnerability exists in the kernel-level memory management subsystem of Android System-on-Chip (SoC) implementations.
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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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 > Build Number, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shellAffected if The security patch level is earlier than the March 2021 Android Security Bulletin (or unknown/unavailable)
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Verify Kernel VersionRun 'uname -r' or check /proc/version via ADB shellAffected if The kernel version predates the March 2021 Android security updates for your specific device model
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Confirm Local Access ContextDetermine if untrusted local applications or processes can access the device (this is a local privilege escalation requiring an attacker to execute code on the device first)Affected if The device allows installation of apps from unknown sources or has vulnerable apps with code execution capabilities
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Inspect Kernel Memory Management LogsCheck dmesg or kernel logs via 'dmesg | grep -i memory' or review /sys/kernel/debug/memory_failures if accessibleAffected if Repeated memory corruption errors or allocation failures appear in kernel logs indicating potential exploitation
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Review SELinux or Audit LogsRun 'dmesg' or check /var/log/messages for audit violations related to memory management driver accessAffected if Suspicious privilege escalation attempts or unusual memory subsystem access patterns are logged
The device is likely affected if it lacks the March 2021 or later Android security patch level, as this kernel race condition requires a vendor-supplied fix to 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 latest Android security patch level (SPL) from the device vendor or SoC manufacturer, as this kernel driver race condition requires a vendor-supplied fix.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,712.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0533 — 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-2021-0533 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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- 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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