CVE-2021-1027
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 setTransactionState of SurfaceFlinger, there is possible arbitrary code execution in a privileged process due to improper casting. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-12Android ID: A-193033243
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 confidenceType confusion vulnerability in Android's SurfaceFlinger display compositor where improper object casting in the setTransactionState function allows arbitrary code execution in a privileged system service context, enabling local privilege escalation without user interaction.
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= 12.0CVSS 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.
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Check Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via adb shellAffected if Version is exactly 12.0 (Android 12)
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Verify security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via adb shellAffected if Patch level is earlier than 2022-01
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Confirm SurfaceFlinger service statusRun 'service list | grep -i surfaceflinger' via adb shell to verify the service is registered and activeAffected if SurfaceFlinger service is running on Android 12 without the 2022-01 patch
Environment is affected if running Android 12.0 with a security patch level earlier than January 2022.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply Android security patch level 2022-01 or later for Android-12; this is a system-level vulnerability that requires OS-level updates rather than application-level fixes.
Android 12.0 with February 2022 security patch level or later (or Android 12L/13+)
- Verify the current Android version by going to Settings > About Phone > Android version
- Navigate to Settings > System > System update to check for available updates
- Apply the latest Android system update (security patch level February 2022 or later)
- After updating, verify the security patch level by going to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level
- Confirm the patch level shows February 2022 or later to confirm the vulnerability is remediated
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing12.0 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 $8,320.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1027 — 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-2021-1027 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
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- 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