AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-0925

HIGH · 7.5 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 →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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 rw_t4t_sm_detect_ndef of rw_t4t.cc, there is a possible out of bounds read due to an incorrect bounds check. This could lead to remote information disclosure due to a limited change in behavior based on the out of bounds data with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-12Android ID: A-191444150

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

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in the Android NFC stack (rw_t4t.cc) within the rw_t4t_sm_detect_ndef function. The issue stems from an incorrect bounds check that allows reading memory outside the intended buffer, potentially exposing limited sensitive information. This occurs during NFC Tag Type 4 detection operations.

MitigationApply the Android-12 security patch (November 2021 or later). For organizations with custom NFC implementations, review and correct bounds checking logic in NFC tag processing code.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Verify Android version is 12.0
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if The device runs Android version 12.0 exactly (not 12.1, 11, or other versions)
  2. Confirm NFC capability is present
    Check if the device has NFC hardware via Settings > Connected devices > NFC, or run 'getprop ro.hardware.nfc' via ADB
    Affected if The device lacks NFC hardware entirely (the vulnerability cannot be triggered)
  3. Determine if NFC is enabled
    Check NFC toggle status in Settings > Connected devices > NFC, or run 'cmd nfc get-state' via ADB
    Affected if NFC is turned ON - the vulnerable code path in rw_t4t_sm_detect_ndef can be triggered when the device attempts to read NFC Tag Type 4
  4. Identify custom NFC implementations
    For organizations with custom Android builds: review source code in external/libnfc-nci/src/rw_t4t.cc for the rw_t4t_sm_detect_ndef function and verify bounds checking logic around NDEF message parsing
    Affected if Custom NFC code contains the same flawed bounds check pattern as the upstream vulnerability

A device is affected if it runs Android 12.0, has NFC hardware, and has a security patch level earlier than November 2021 with NFC enabled.

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-12 security patch (November 2021 or later). For organizations with custom NFC implementations, review and correct bounds checking logic in NFC tag processing code.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 12 with December 2021 security patch level (2021-12-05) or later, or upgrade to Android 13

  1. Go to Settings > System > System Update on the Android device
  2. Check for and install any available system updates
  3. Ensure the installed security patch level is December 2021 (2021-12-05) or later
Caveat Android 13 may have UI/behavior changes from Android 12; review release notes for compatibility concerns

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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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-2021-0925 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
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