CVE-2021-39765
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 Gallery, there is a possible permission bypass due to a confused deputy. This could lead to local information disclosure with User execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-12LAndroid ID: A-201535427
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 confidenceThis is a confused deputy vulnerability in the Android Gallery app where improper permission validation allows an attacker to bypass access controls and disclose local information. The Gallery app, which operates with elevated privileges, can be tricked into performing actions on behalf of a less privileged malicious actor, exposing sensitive data without requiring 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= 12.1CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 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 ADBAffected if The version is exactly 12.1
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Identify the Gallery app packageRun 'pm list packages | grep gallery' via ADB shell to find the Gallery app package name (typically com.android.gallery3d or com.google.android.apps.photos)Affected if A Gallery app package is installed on the device
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Verify Gallery app is not a custom replacementCheck if the installed Gallery app is the original system app by running 'dumpsys package <gallery_package_name> | grep -i "pkg="' via ADB and confirming it is a system-signed appAffected if The Gallery app is the original Android system app (not a third-party replacement)
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Check if security patch is appliedRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB to see the applied security patch levelAffected if The security patch level is earlier than the SVE-2021-201535427 patch or the device has not received the Android-12L update
A device is affected if it runs Android 12.1 with the original Gallery system app installed and has not applied the Android-12L security patch SVE-2021-201535427.
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 the Android-12L security patch (SVE-2021-201535427) from your device/OEM vendor. As this is a system app vulnerability, no user-facing remediation is available beyond system updates.
Android 12L with January 2022 security patch level (2022-01-01)
- Apply the Android security update for January 2022 (2022-01-01 patch level or later) to the affected device
- Navigate to Settings > System > Security Update on the device
- Verify the security patch level is 2022-01-01 or later
- Confirm the Gallery app is updated to the latest version available from Google Play Store
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-39765 — 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-2021-39765 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data