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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-25345

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-03-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Graphic format mismatch while converting video format in hwcomposer prior to SMR Mar-2021 Release 1 results in kernel panic due to unsupported format.

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 · moderate confidence

A graphic format mismatch occurs in the hwcomposer component during video format conversion, causing a kernel panic due to an unsupported format being processed. This is a denial-of-service vulnerability in the hardware compositor layer.

MitigationApply the SMR Mar-2021 Release 1 security update which contains the fix for this hwcomposer format handling issue.

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:= 10.0= 11.0

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 the Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' in ADB shell or check Settings > About Phone > Android version
    Affected if The version is exactly 10.0 or 11.0
  2. Check the security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' in ADB shell or check Settings > About Phone > Security patch level
    Affected if The patch level is earlier than 2021-03-01 (meaning the Mar-2021 SMR update has not been applied)
  3. Verify the hwcomposer component is present
    Check for the hwcomposer library by running 'ls /vendor/lib*/hwcomposer*' or 'ls /system/lib*/hwcomposer*' in ADB shell
    Affected if The hwcomposer library exists on the device (the vulnerability exists in this component, so its presence is required for the flaw to apply)
  4. Check for format conversion activity
    Monitor dmesg or logcat for hwcomposer format errors during video playback: 'logcat | grep -i hwcomposer' or 'dmesg | grep -i format' in ADB shell
    Affected if Format mismatch or unsupported format errors appear in the logs, indicating the vulnerable code path is being exercised

The device is affected if it runs Android 10.0 or 11.0 with a security patch level earlier than March 2021 and displays hwcomposer-related format errors during video operations.

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 SMR Mar-2021 Release 1 security update which contains the fix for this hwcomposer format handling issue.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2021-25345 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