dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-20049

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
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 vpu, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to a missing permission check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS05954679; Issue ID: ALPS05954679.

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

This is a MediaTek VPU (Video Processing Unit) driver vulnerability where a missing permission check allows local privilege escalation. An attacker with System-level execution privileges can exploit this to gain elevated privileges without user interaction.

MitigationApply the vendor patch ALPS05954679 to the VPU driver. This patch adds the missing permission check to prevent unauthorized access to privileged VPU operations.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/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. Confirm MediaTek VPU driver presence
    Identify if the device uses a MediaTek chipset with VPU (Video Processing Unit) driver. Check /proc/devices or system logs for vpu-related entries, or use 'getprop' to check hardware details.
    Affected if Device runs on MediaTek hardware with VPU driver loaded and Android version is 10.0 or 11.0
  2. Verify Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version.
    Affected if Android version is exactly 10.0 or 11.0 (the affected versions)
  3. Check VPU driver is accessible
    Inspect /dev/ or /sys/class/ for VPU-related device nodes. Look for entries containing 'vpu', 'mdev', or video processing device nodes accessible from userspace.
    Affected if VPU device nodes exist and are accessible at system level without additional authentication
  4. Confirm System-level execution access
    Verify the attacker has System-level privileges (not just root) by checking process capabilities via 'ps -A' or checking if the exploit payload can be executed at System privilege level.
    Affected if Attacker can execute code at System privilege level on the affected Android version with vulnerable VPU driver
  5. Check for vendor security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to see the installed security patch level. Compare against the date of ALPS05954679 patch availability.
    Affected if Security patch level is older than the vendor fix, and VPU driver is present on Android 10.0 or 11.0

A user is affected if their Android device runs version 10.0 or 11.0 on MediaTek hardware with the vulnerable VPU driver, and the missing permission check (patch ALPS05954679) has not been applied.

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 vendor patch ALPS05954679 to the VPU driver. This patch adds the missing permission check to prevent unauthorized access to privileged VPU operations.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Android Security Patch Level March 2022 or later (device-specific)

  1. Check your Android device's build number in Settings > About Phone to identify the current Android version and security patch level
  2. Contact your device manufacturer (e.g., Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Realme) to verify if a security update containing MediaTek patch ALPS05954679 has been released for your specific device model
  3. If your device manufacturer has released an update, apply the latest available Android security update through Settings > System > Software Update
  4. For enterprise or managed devices, work with your mobile device management (MDM) administrator to push the latest security patch update to your device
  5. Verify the patch has been applied by checking Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level after updating
Caveat Security updates typically have minimal risk; however, verify device compatibility and backup data before applying updates

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 / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-20049 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