CVE-2021-0876
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 PVRSRVBridgePhysmemNewRamBackedLockedPMR of the PowerVR kernel driver, a missing size check means there is a possible integer overflow that could allow out-of-bounds heap access. 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-270400229
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 confidenceAn integer overflow vulnerability exists in the PowerVR kernel driver's PVRSRVBridgePhysmemNewRamBackedLockedPMR function due to a missing size validation check. This allows a local attacker to cause heap out-of-bounds memory access by triggering the integer overflow during memory allocation, leading to local privilege escalation without requiring user interaction or additional execution 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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify PowerVR GPU hardware presenceCheck /proc/pvr or /sys/class/misc/pvr for PowerVR driver presence, or use 'cat /proc/pvr/version' if availableAffected if The device has a PowerVR GPU and the driver is loaded - only then is it potentially affected
-
Check Android security patch levelRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' or check Settings > About Phone > Android security patch levelAffected if If the patch level is earlier than the vendor release date for CVE-2021-0876, the device remains vulnerable
-
Verify kernel driver versionCheck 'cat /proc/pvr/version' or /sys/module/pvrsrvkm/version for the PowerVR kernel module version if the driver is presentAffected if Unable to obtain driver version indicates the vulnerable driver may be in use
-
Confirm kernel-space driver is activeCheck 'lsmod | grep pvr' or 'getprop ro.gpu.driver' to see if the PowerVR kernel module is loadedAffected if The PowerVR kernel module (pvrsrvkm) is loaded - the vulnerability is in kernel-space and requires the driver to be active
A device is affected if it has a PowerVR GPU with the vulnerable kernel driver loaded and lacks the vendor security patch for CVE-2021-0876.
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 security patch for CVE-2021-0876 from the SoC/device manufacturer. This is a kernel-space vulnerability requiring updates to the PowerVR GPU driver firmware or the underlying Android kernel module.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-0876 — 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-2021-0876 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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