AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0704

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-12-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
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 createNoCredentialsPermissionNotification and related functions of AccountManagerService.java, there is a possible way to retrieve accounts from the device without permissions due to a permissions bypass. This could lead to local information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-10 Android-11 Android-9Android ID: A-179338675

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 permissions bypass in Android's AccountManagerService allows local apps to retrieve account information from the device without proper permissions. The vulnerability exists in createNoCredentialsPermissionNotification and related functions where permission checks are not properly enforced, enabling unauthorized access to account data.

MitigationApply the Android security patch level that addresses this vulnerability (Android-10, Android-11, Android-9). Device manufacturers must integrate the AOSP fix into their firmware updates.

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:= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0

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

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

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

  1. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version and note the displayed version number
    Affected if The version is 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 (any variant within these major versions)
  2. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level and note the date of the last security update
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the Google security update that addresses CVE-2021-0704 (compare your patch date to Google's Android security bulletin for February 2021 or later)
  3. Identify if device receives Google patches
    Check with your device manufacturer or carrier whether the device is eligible for monthly Android security updates
    Affected if The device is no longer receiving security updates or is on an older patch cycle that predates the fix
  4. Verify AccountManagerService access controls
    On a rooted device, examine /system/core/accounts.jar or the AOSP source for AccountManagerService.java to confirm the permission check fix is present in createNoCredentialsPermissionNotification
    Affected if The installed framework code lacks the permission enforcement fix for this function

A device is affected if it runs Android 9.0, 10.0, or 11.0 and has a security patch level older than the February 2021 Android security update that contains the CVE-2021-0704 fix.

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 the Android security patch level that addresses this vulnerability (Android-10, Android-11, Android-9). Device manufacturers must integrate the AOSP fix into their firmware updates.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. 1. Apply the Android security update that addresses this vulnerability. Check your device manufacturer's security bulletin for the specific patch release date.
  2. 2. On the device, go to Settings > Security > Security update (or Settings > System > Advanced > System update) to verify the installed security patch level.
  3. 3. Ensure the device has the latest Android security patch level installed. The fix for this vulnerability (Android ID A-179338675) was included in the Android security bulletin for the month it was addressed.
  4. 4. If the device manufacturer has released a specific update for this CVE, download and install that update through the device's system update mechanism.

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
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0704 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-0704 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