AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2021-39778

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-30
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
In Telecomm, there is a possible way to determine whether an app is installed, without query permissions, due to improper input validation. This could lead to local information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-12LAndroid ID: A-196406138

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

In Android's Telecomm component (Android-12L), improper input validation allows a local attacker to determine whether specific applications are installed on the device without possessing the required query permissions. This information disclosure occurs without any user interaction and requires no elevated privileges.

MitigationApply the Android security patch for CVE-2021-39778 (part of the Android-12L security update) which contains the fix for the improper input validation in the Telecomm component.

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:= 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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if Version equals 12.0 (Android-12L)
  2. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell
    Affected if Patch level is earlier than the Android-12L security update containing the CVE-2021-39778 fix
  3. Verify Telecomm component presence
    Check for presence of TelecomService or Telecomm service on the device. Run 'dumpsys telecom' via ADB shell to confirm the component is accessible
    Affected if Telecomm component is present and responding (standard on Android devices with telephony)
  4. Confirm no third-party security Apps are blocking the vulnerable component
    Review if any mobile security or MDM solutions are actively monitoring or blocking app enumeration queries to the Telecomm service
    Affected if No security solution is intercepting these queries

A device is affected if it runs Android 12.0 and has a security patch level earlier than the Android-12L update containing the CVE-2021-39778 fix, with the Telecomm component active and unmitigated by external security controls.

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

Apply the Android security patch for CVE-2021-39778 (part of the Android-12L security update) which contains the fix for the improper input validation in the Telecomm component.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Android 12L with January 2022 security patch or later; Android 13 stable release

  1. Upgrade the device to Android 12L with the latest security patch update
  2. Alternatively, upgrade to Android 13 which contains the security fix for this vulnerability
Caveat Upgrading to a new Android version may introduce UI changes or remove compatibility with older apps

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2021-39778 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