dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0879

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 PVRSRVBridgeRGXTDMSubmitTransfer 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-270397970

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 missing size check in PVRSRVBridgeRGXTDMSubmitTransfer of the PowerVR kernel driver creates a possible integer overflow that could lead to out-of-bounds heap access, enabling local privilege escalation without additional execution privileges.

MitigationApply the Android security patch that includes the fix for this PowerVR kernel driver vulnerability. The patch should add proper size validation before the arithmetic operation to prevent integer overflow.

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. Check Android security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch'
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the date when the fix for this CVE was released (the fix was included in Android security updates)
  2. Identify if device uses PowerVR GPU
    Check the GPU vendor via 'adb shell cat /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/gpu_model' or check 'getprop ro.hardware' for PowerVR-related identifiers
    Affected if The device has a PowerVR GPU, indicating the vulnerable kernel driver (PVRSRVBridgeRGXTDMSubmitTransfer) is present
  3. Verify kernel driver version
    Check for the PowerVR driver module via 'adb shell ls /dev/pvrsrvkm' or check 'adb shell cat /proc/version' for kernel details
    Affected if The PowerVR kernel driver is present and the driver version cannot be verified as patched
  4. Confirm vulnerability scope
    Review if the device has local privilege escalation protections disabled or if the user has ADB access that could trigger the vulnerable ioctl call
    Affected if The device is vulnerable because it runs an unpatched Android version with the affected PowerVR kernel driver loaded

A user is affected if their Android device has a PowerVR GPU and is running a security patch level predating the fix for CVE-2021-0879.

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 that includes the fix for this PowerVR kernel driver vulnerability. The patch should add proper size validation before the arithmetic operation to prevent integer overflow.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Apply the Android security update for the month when CVE-2021-0879 was addressed in the Android Security Bulletin (contact OEM for specific dates per device model)

  1. 1. Check if your Android device has received the Android Security Bulletin update for the month containing this fix (reference Android Security Bulletin)
  2. 2. Contact your device manufacturer (OEM) to confirm if a security update containing the fix for A-270397970 has been released for your specific device model
  3. 3. If using a device with PowerVR GPU (Imagination Technologies), verify with the SoC manufacturer or OEM that the PowerVR kernel driver has been updated to include the size check fix in PVRSRVBridgeRGXTDMSubmitTransfer
  4. 4. Apply the OEM-provided system update that includes the patch for this vulnerability
  5. 5. Confirm the device is running a kernel version that includes the patched PowerVR driver
Caveat OEM-specific updates may have varying availability depending on device model and carrier; some older devices may not receive patches for this kernel-level vulnerability

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
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,080
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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-2021-0879 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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