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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0555

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 RenderStruct of protostream_objectsource.cc, there is a possible crash due to a missing null check. This could lead to remote denial of service with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-11Android ID: A-179161711

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 RenderStruct function of protostream_objectsource.cc within the Android framework, a missing null check allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service by triggering a null pointer dereference. No user interaction or special privileges are required for exploitation.

MitigationApply the Android-11 security patch for CVE-2021-0555. Ensure all affected Android devices receive the latest vendor security 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:= 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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Identify Android version
    On the Android device, navigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or use ADB command: getprop ro.build.version.release
    Affected if The reported version is Android 11.0 (exact match)
  2. Check security patch level
    On the device, go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or use ADB command: getprop ro.build.version.security_patch
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the Android-11 security update containing the fix for CVE-2021-0555 (typically January 2021 or later)
  3. Confirm vulnerability scope
    This vulnerability exists in the protostream library within the Android framework (protostream_objectsource.cc). No specific feature or configuration needs to be enabled - the vulnerable code path runs as part of framework operations.
    Affected if Device runs Android 11.0 with a pre-January-2021 security patch level

The device is affected if it runs Android 11.0 and has not received the security patch that addresses CVE-2021-0555.

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 Android-11 security patch for CVE-2021-0555. Ensure all affected Android devices receive the latest vendor security updates.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2021-0555 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