CVE-2021-0578
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 wifi driver, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to remote information disclosure to a proximal attacker with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android SoCAndroid ID: A-187161772
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 confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the Android WiFi driver where a missing bounds check allows a proximal attacker (within WiFi range) to read sensitive information from memory without any user interaction or privilege escalation required. The vulnerability exists in the WiFi driver component 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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 the Android security patch levelOpen Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run `adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch`Affected if The patch level is earlier than 2021-08-05 (the August 2021 security bulletin)
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Verify WiFi is enabledCheck that WiFi is turned on in Settings or run `adb shell settings get global wifi_on`Affected if WiFi is enabled and the security patch level is before August 2021
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Identify the WiFi chipsetCheck device specifications for the SoC manufacturer (Qualcomm, Broadcom, MediaTek, etc.) or run `adb shell getprop ro.board.platform`Affected if The device uses an affected WiFi driver implementation and remains on an unpatched Android version
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Confirm no vendor-specific patch appliedContact the device manufacturer to confirm whether a separate vendor security update has been applied beyond the Android security bulletinAffected if The device manufacturer has not released or applied the August 2021 or later security patch for this specific model
A user is affected if the device runs any Android version with a security patch level earlier than August 2021 and has WiFi enabled.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply the relevant Android security patch (typically from the August 2021 security bulletin or later) which includes the fix for this WiFi driver bounds check vulnerability. Organizations should ensure mobile devices receive timely monthly security updates from their device manufacturers.
Android devices with June 2021 security patch level (2021-06-01) or later
- 1. Check your current Android security patch level by going to Settings > About Phone > Android version or Settings > Security > Security patch level
- 2. Ensure your device is updated to at least the June 2021 security patch level (2021-06-01) or later
- 3. Go to Settings > System > Software Update (or Settings > About Phone > Software Update)
- 4. Check for updates and install any available security updates
- 5. Verify the security patch level has been updated to June 2021 or later after installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 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 $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0578 — 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-2021-0578 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data