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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0878

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 PVRSRVBridgeServerSyncGetStatus 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-270399153

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 the PowerVR kernel driver's PVRSRVBridgeServerSyncGetStatus function, a missing size validation allows an integer overflow to occur, which can lead to out-of-bounds heap memory access. This enables a local attacker to escalate privileges without requiring additional execution privileges.

MitigationApply the vendor-specific Android security patch containing the fix for this PowerVR kernel driver vulnerability; the fix requires adding proper size bounds checking before heap operations.

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify if the device uses a PowerVR GPU
    Check /sys/class/misc/pvrsrvkm or look for 'pvr' or 'powervr' in /proc/kallsyms, /sys/module/, or kernel command line parameters. Also check /vendor/lib/modules/ or /lib/modules/ for pvrsrvkm.ko or similar PowerVR kernel modules.
    Affected if No PowerVR kernel module or driver files are found on the device, meaning the vulnerable component is not present.
  2. Check the PowerVR kernel driver version
    If the pvrsrvkm module is present, run 'modinfo pvrsrvkm' or check the module version via /sys/module/pvrsrvkm/version. Compare this version against the date/codebase where CVE-2021-0878 was fixed in the PowerVR driver.
    Affected if The installed driver version predates the fix for CVE-2021-0878, or the specific version cannot be determined.
  3. Verify the vulnerable function exists in the driver
    Check if the symbol PVRSRVBridgeServerSyncGetStatus is present in the loaded driver or module via 'grep PVRSRVBridgeServerSyncGetStatus /proc/kallsyms' or by examining the module file with 'nm' or 'readelf'.
    Affected if The function PVRSRVBridgeServerSyncGetStatus is present and accessible, indicating the potentially vulnerable code path exists.
  4. Confirm the Android security patch level
    Check the system security patch level via 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' or Settings > About Phone > Android security patch level.
    Affected if The installed Android security patch level is earlier than the month when the CVE-2021-0878 fix was released (typically mid-2021 or later for this vulnerability).

The device is affected if it runs a PowerVR GPU with a kernel driver containing the PVRSRVBridgeServerSyncGetStatus function and has not received the Android security patch that addresses this integer overflow vulnerability.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-specific Android security patch containing the fix for this PowerVR kernel driver vulnerability; the fix requires adding proper size bounds checking before heap operations.

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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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-2021-0878 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