dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-1036

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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 LocationSettingsActivity of AndroidManifest.xml, there is a possible EoP due to a tapjacking/overlay attack. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-10 Android-11 Android-12 Android-9Android ID: A-182812255

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 tapjacking/overlay vulnerability in LocationSettingsActivity allows a malicious app to overlay transparent UI elements on top of this Android settings activity, tricking users into unknowingly interacting with sensitive location settings. This enables local privilege escalation through user-initiated actions without requiring additional execution privileges.

MitigationImplement FLAG_SECURE on the activity window to prevent screenshots and overlay capture, and add touch filtering/validation to detect and block suspicious overlay interactions on sensitive UI elements.

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:= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0= 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 your Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if The version listed is 9.0, 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0
  2. Verify the Settings application is installed
    Run 'pm list packages | grep com.android.settings' in ADB shell, or check Settings app presence in the app launcher
    Affected if The package com.android.settings is installed (standard on all Android devices)
  3. Confirm the LocationSettingsActivity exists
    Run 'dumpsys package com.android.settings | grep -i location' in ADB shell to list location-related activities
    Affected if The activity named LocationSettingsActivity or similar location settings activity is present on the device
  4. Check if overlays are permitted for the Settings app
    Go to Settings > Apps > Special access > Display over other apps, and verify which apps have overlay permission
    Affected if Any untrusted app is granted 'Display over other apps' permission, allowing potential overlay attacks

If your device runs Android 9.0 through 12.0 and has the standard Settings app with location settings functionality, your environment is affected by this tapjacking 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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement FLAG_SECURE on the activity window to prevent screenshots and overlay capture, and add touch filtering/validation to detect and block suspicious overlay interactions on sensitive UI elements.

Recommended fix High confidence

Update to the latest available Android security patch level (December 2021 or later for Android 9-12)

  1. Check current Android version by going to Settings > About Phone > Android version
  2. Check current security patch level by going to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level
  3. Ensure the security patch level is December 2021 or later (which contains the fix for CVE-2021-1036)
  4. Go to Settings > System > System update > Check for updates
  5. Install any available system updates to receive the security patch that fixes this vulnerability
  6. After updating, verify the security patch level has been updated in Settings > About Phone > Security patch level
Caveat Minor: Some device models may no longer receive security updates if they are beyond their support lifecycle

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
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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-2021-1036 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