CVE-2021-34404
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 · uneditedAndroid images for T210 provided by NVIDIA contain a vulnerability in BROM, where failure to limit access to AHB-DMA when BROM fails may allow an unprivileged attacker with physical access to cause denial of service or impact integrity and confidentiality beyond the security scope of BROM.
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 confidenceNVIDIA T210 Android images contain a BROM vulnerability where AHB-DMA access controls are not properly limited upon BROM failure, potentially allowing an unprivileged attacker with physical access to bypass BROM security boundaries and impact integrity, confidentiality, or cause denial of service.
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< 9.0CVSS 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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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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Identify NVIDIA Shield device modelCheck the device model number on the device settings or physical device label. Look for NVIDIA Shield (T210) based devices such as Shield TV or Shield Tablet.Affected if Device is an NVIDIA Shield device based on the T210 SoC
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Check Shield Experience versionNavigate to Settings > About > Version on the Android device, or check the system update settings. Record the Shield Experience version number.Affected if Shield Experience version is below 9.0 (e.g., 8.x, 7.x, etc.)
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Verify BROM firmware version if accessibleAttempt to access BROM/firmware version information through device diagnostics or bootloader mode if available. This may require ADB access or manufacturer tools.Affected if BROM firmware has not been updated to include the fix for AHB-DMA access control restrictions upon BROM failure
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Assess physical access exposureEvaluate who has physical access to the device. Determine if untrusted individuals could gain physical access to power on the device and interact with exposed ports or debug interfaces.Affected if Untrusted parties have physical access to the powered-off or powered-on device
If the device is an NVIDIA Shield based on T210 SoC and runs Shield Experience version below 9.0, and physical access cannot be fully controlled, the device is affected by this BROM vulnerability.
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 · scoped9.0
Physical access requirements limit exploitability; however, affected devices require a vendor-provided BROM/firmware update from NVIDIA to properly restrict AHB-DMA access when BROM fails. Until patched, enforce physical security controls and avoid processing sensitive data on affected devices.
Shield Experience 9.0 or later
- Ensure your NVIDIA Shield TV device is connected to the internet
- Navigate to the Google Play Store on your Shield device
- Search for 'Shield Experience' or 'NVIDIA Shield Experience'
- Update the Shield Experience app to version 9.0 or later
- Alternatively, go to Settings > About > System Update to check for and install any available system updates
- After updating, verify the version by going to Settings > About > Shield Experience version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,096.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-34404 — 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-2021-34404 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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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.
- 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
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