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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0769

HIGH · 7.3 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 →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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 onCreate of AllowBindAppWidgetActivity.java, there is a possible bypass of user interaction requirements due to unclear UI. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-12Android ID: A-184676316

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

In Android 12, the AllowBindAppWidgetActivity.java contains a UI clarity issue in its onCreate method that allows bypassing user interaction requirements during the widget binding process. This enables a malicious local application to potentially bind widgets without proper user consent, resulting in local privilege escalation.

MitigationApply the Android security patch for CVE-2021-0769 (included in the December 2021 Android Security Bulletin or later) which corrects the UI flow in AllowBindAppWidgetActivity to ensure proper user interaction is enforced.

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:= 12.0

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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

  1. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via adb shell
    Affected if The version reports exactly 12.0 (this is the only affected version per the advisory)
  2. Verify widget binding component accessibility
    Check if the package installer has permissions to access AllowBindAppWidgetActivity. Inspect the AndroidManifest.xml in the framework or system ROM for the activity declaration under the 'android' package
    Affected if The activity is exported without proper permission checks that would require user interaction
  3. Test widget binding without user confirmation
    Attempt to programmatically bind a widget via AppWidgetManager.bindAppWidgetIdIfAllowed() from a test application. Observe whether the binding succeeds without a system dialog prompt appearing
    Affected if The binding succeeds silently without presenting the AllowBindAppWidgetActivity confirmation dialog to the user
  4. Inspect system logs for widget binding events
    Run 'logcat | grep -i "AllowBindAppWidgetActivity"' or 'logcat | grep -i "bindAppWidget"' during a widget binding attempt
    Affected if No user interaction or confirmation dialog is logged in the system logs before widget binding completes

Your environment is affected only if you are running Android 12.0 and a test app can bind widgets without triggering the user confirmation dialog that should be presented by AllowBindAppWidgetActivity.

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 for CVE-2021-0769 (included in the December 2021 Android Security Bulletin or later) which corrects the UI flow in AllowBindAppWidgetActivity to ensure proper user interaction is enforced.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Android 13 or later (or latest Android 12 security patch level)

  1. 1. Navigate to Settings on the Android device
  2. 2. Go to System → System update (or Settings → About Phone → System update)
  3. 3. Check for and install any available system updates
  4. 4. Verify the device is running Android 12 (S) with the latest security patch level installed
Caveat Upgrading to a new major Android version may introduce UI changes and may affect compatibility with some apps

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
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2021-0769 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