AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-20210

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-06-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
The UE and the EMM communicate with each other using NAS messages. When a new NAS message arrives from the EMM, the modem parses it and fills in internal objects based on the received data. A bug in the parsing code could be used by an attacker to remotely crash the modem, which could lead to DoS or RCE.Product: AndroidVersions: Android SoCAndroid ID: A-228868888

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 · high confidence

A parsing vulnerability exists in the modem's NAS (Non-Access Stratum) message handling code. When processing incoming NAS messages from the EMM (EPS Mobility Management), the modem fills internal objects based on received data. A bug in this parsing logic can be exploited by a remote attacker to crash the modem, potentially achieving denial of service or remote code execution.

MitigationApply vendor-provided modem firmware updates. Organizations should inventory affected Android devices and coordinate with device manufacturers/carriers for patch deployment.

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:all versions

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Identify your device's baseband/modem firmware version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > SIM Status, or dial *#*#4636#*#* to access testing info, or run 'getprop | grep baseband' via ADB shell
    Affected if The baseband version cannot be determined or is an unpatched release from the device manufacturer/carrier
  2. Determine the device's Android version and security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB
    Affected if The device is running any Android version (as all versions are listed as affected) and lacks the vendor-specific modem firmware update
  3. Identify the device manufacturer and carrier
    Check Settings > About Phone for manufacturer and model information, and identify your mobile carrier
    Affected if The manufacturer or carrier has not released a modem firmware update addressing this NAS parsing vulnerability
  4. Verify if the device can receive cellular network connectivity
    Attempt to make/receive a call, send SMS, or use mobile data. The vulnerability is triggered when processing incoming NAS messages from the EMM layer during normal cellular communication
    Affected if The device connects to a cellular network (LTE/5G) and the modem has not been patched; the vulnerability applies to all NAS message processing
  5. Check vendor security bulletins for modem firmware updates
    Search the device manufacturer's security advisory page or your carrier's update documentation for CVE-2022-20210 or 'modem NAS parsing'
    Affected if No vendor acknowledgment or patch exists for this specific CVE in the available firmware releases

A user is affected if their Android device uses a cellular modem with unpatched firmware that has not received the vendor-specific update addressing the NAS message parsing vulnerability.

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 vendor-provided modem firmware updates. Organizations should inventory affected Android devices and coordinate with device manufacturers/carriers for patch deployment.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,200
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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-2022-20210 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