dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0697

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 PVRSRVRGXSubmitTransferKM of rgxtransfer.c, there is a possible user after free due to a race condition. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android SoCAndroid ID: A-238918403

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

A race condition in the PowerVR graphics driver function PVGSRVRGXSubmitTransferKM in rgxtransfer.c leads to a use-after-free vulnerability. This local privilege escalation bug requires no user interaction and affects Android System-on-Chip components.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied security patches for Android; this requires a firmware/driver update from the SoC manufacturer (PowerVR/Imagination Technologies) or device OEM.

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:all versions

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify PowerVR GPU presence
    Check /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/gpu_model or use 'getprop ro.hardware' and 'getprop ro.gpu.version' to see if the device uses a PowerVR GPU
    Affected if The device does not have a PowerVR GPU - this vulnerability only affects devices with PowerVR graphics hardware
  2. Check PowerVR driver version
    Examine /sys/module/pvrsrvkm/version or /sys/kernel/debug/pvr/version if available, or check 'lsmod | grep pvr' to find the loaded PowerVR kernel module
    Affected if The driver version cannot be determined or is older than vendor security patches released after February 2021
  3. Verify Android security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to check the installed security patch level
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the vendor patch that addresses CVE-2021-0697 (typically February 2021 or later, vendor-dependent)
  4. Check kernel for vulnerable function
    Inspect the kernel image or loaded module for the function PVGSRVRGXSubmitTransferKM in rgxtransfer.c by checking if the pvrsrvkm module is loaded: 'lsmod | grep -i pvrsrvkm'
    Affected if The PowerVR kernel module (pvrsrvkm) is loaded and the driver has not been updated to include the fix for the race condition

A device is affected if it uses PowerVR GPU hardware and has not received a vendor security patch that addresses the race condition in the PVGSRVRGXSubmitTransferKM function, typically indicated by a security patch level before the CVE fix date.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied security patches for Android; this requires a firmware/driver update from the SoC manufacturer (PowerVR/Imagination Technologies) or device OEM.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android devices with October 2021 security patch level or later

  1. Check your device's current Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
  2. If the patch level is earlier than October 2021, check for a system software update
  3. Download and install the latest available Android security update for your device
  4. After updating, verify the security patch level now shows October 2021 or later
Caveat Updates are generally safe; some older devices may not receive monthly patches and may need to consider hardware replacement

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-0697 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