CVE-2021-0667
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 apusys, there is a possible memory corruption due to a use after free. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS05670581; Issue ID: ALPS05670581.
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 · moderate confidenceA use-after-free vulnerability exists in MediaTek's apusys (AI processing subsystem) where memory is accessed after being freed, leading to memory corruption. This allows a local attacker with System-level privileges to escalate to higher privileges. The vulnerability requires no user interaction and affects the apusys driver component.
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= 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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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Confirm MediaTek chipset is presentCheck /proc/cpuinfo or use 'getprop ro.hardware' or 'cat /sys/devices/soc0/hw_platform' to identify the chipset vendor. Look for MediaTek or MTK identifiers.Affected if The device does not have a MediaTek chipset - this vulnerability only affects MediaTek processors.
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Verify Android version is 10.0 or 11.0Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version. Confirm the version is exactly 10.0 or 11.0.Affected if Android version is 10.0 or 11.0 exactly - other versions are not in the affected range.
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Confirm apusys driver is present on the deviceCheck if the apusys driver exists by looking in /dev/ or /sys/module/ for 'apusys' entries, or check 'lsmod' output for apusys-related kernel modules.Affected if The apusys driver module is loaded or present - the vulnerability exists in this specific component.
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Check the security patch levelRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to see the installed security patch date. Compare against the patch date for ALPS05670581.Affected if The security patch level is older than the vendor fix - the device may still be vulnerable.
The device is affected if it uses a MediaTek chipset, runs Android 10.0 or 11.0, has the apusys driver present, and has a security patch level predating the ALPS05670581 fix.
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 vendor patch (ALPS05670581) through firmware updates provided by the device manufacturer. This is a MediaTek chipset vulnerability requiring updated firmware/Baseband software.
- 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-2021-0667 — 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-2021-0667 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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