CVE-2021-0600
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 onCreate of DeviceAdminAdd.java, there is a possible way to mislead a user to activate a device admin app due to improper input validation. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-8.1 Android-9 Android-10 Android-11Android ID: A-179042963
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 confidenceIn the DeviceAdminAdd component (onCreate of DeviceAdminAdd.java), improper input validation allows a malicious app to present misleading information during device admin activation, tricking users into granting elevated privileges. This leads to local privilege escalation with user interaction required.
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= 8.1= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 your Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if The version is 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 - these are the affected versions listed for this CVE
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Identify the DeviceAdminAdd componentLocate DeviceAdminAdd.java in the Android framework source code under frameworks/base/services/devicepolicy/java/com/android/server/devicepolicy/ - check the onCreate method for input validation logicAffected if The onCreate method does not properly validate the description/label fields presented during device admin activation, allowing misleading information to be displayed to users
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Check for device admin permission requestsReview any app that requests device admin permissions - inspect the device_admin_receiver declaration in the app's manifest and the description provided during the admin activation promptAffected if A malicious app can supply misleading description text that will be displayed to users during the admin grant process, tricking them into granting elevated privileges
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Verify patch statusCheck the Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shellAffected if The security patch level is earlier than the patch that addresses CVE-2021-0600 - this vulnerability was addressed in the January 2021 Android Security Patch Level or later
A user is affected if their Android device runs version 8.1, 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 and has not received the security patch for CVE-2021-0600.
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 Android security patch for CVE-2021-0600 from the device manufacturer. Users should verify the legitimacy and requested permissions of any app requesting device admin access.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0600 — 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-2021-0600 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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