CVE-2021-0669
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: ALPS05681550; Issue ID: ALPS05681550.
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 in the apusys (APU subsystem) component allows local privilege escalation. The vulnerability stems from memory being accessed after it has been freed, leading to memory corruption that can be exploited to gain elevated privileges.
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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Verify Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release'Affected if The version is 10.0 or 11.0 - other versions are not affected by this specific CVE
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Confirm MediaTek hardware presenceRun 'getprop ro.hardware' or check /proc/cpuinfo for MediaTek chipset identifierAffected if The device does not use a MediaTek chipset - the apusys component is MediaTek-specific and this vulnerability does not apply to other vendors
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Check if apusys driver is loadedRun 'lsmod | grep apusys' or check /sys/module/ for apusys module presenceAffected if The apusys module is not loaded or present - the vulnerability requires this specific component to be active
A device is affected only if it runs Android 10.0 or 11.0, uses MediaTek hardware, and has the apusys driver module loaded - all three conditions must be true.
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 vendor patch ALPS05681550 to the apusys component. Since this is a firmware/driver-level issue in MediaTek hardware, the patch likely needs to be integrated into the system image or firmware update.
Apply the Android Security Patch Level containing the fix for CVE-2021-0669 (typically November 2021 or later)
- Contact MediaTek or your device manufacturer to obtain and apply the patch ALPS05681550
- After receiving the patch, flash the updated firmware to the affected Android devices running version 10.0 or 11.0
- Verify the patch has been applied by checking the system security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
- Confirm the apusys driver version matches the patched release
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,072.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0669 — 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-2021-0669 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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