dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-20213

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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 ApplicationsDetailsActivity of AndroidManifest.xml, there is a possible DoS due to a tapjacking/overlay attack. This could lead to local denial of service with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-10 Android-11 Android-12Android ID: A-183410508

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 tapjacking/overlay vulnerability exists in ApplicationsDetailsActivity within the Android Settings app. A malicious application can draw over the legitimate Settings activity, preventing users from interacting with system settings or causing a denial of service. The attack requires user interaction (tapping) and no special privileges.

MitigationImplement overlay detection and protection in ApplicationsDetailsActivity by checking for overlaying windows before processing user input, using FLAG_SECURE to prevent screenshots, and implementing touch filtering to detect potential tapjacking attempts.

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if The version is exactly 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0
  2. Verify Settings app version
    Open Google Play Store, search for 'Settings' (or Google Settings), check if an update is available. On stock Android, the Settings app is a system app updated via Google Play Services or system OTA updates.
    Affected if No recent security patch has been applied to the Settings app on affected Android versions
  3. Confirm overlay permission status
    Go to Settings > Apps > Special access > Display over other apps. Check if any untrusted or suspicious applications have this permission granted.
    Affected if A malicious app with 'Display over other apps' permission can exploit this vulnerability on affected Android versions

A user is affected if their device runs Android 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0 and a malicious app with overlay permission can draw over the Settings ApplicationsDetailsActivity, blocking user interaction.

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

Implement overlay detection and protection in ApplicationsDetailsActivity by checking for overlaying windows before processing user input, using FLAG_SECURE to prevent screenshots, and implementing touch filtering to detect potential tapjacking attempts.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 13 (API 33)

  1. 1. Verify the current Android version on the affected device by navigating to Settings > About Phone > Android version
  2. 2. Check if Android 13 (API 33) is available for the device by going to Settings > System > Software Update (or Settings > About Phone > System Updates)
  3. 3. If an update is available, ensure the device is connected to Wi-Fi and has sufficient battery (>50%) or is charging
  4. 4. Download and install the Android 13 update following the on-screen prompts
  5. 5. After the update completes and the device restarts, verify the fix by confirming the Android version now shows 13.x and the security patch level includes the fix (typically March 2022 or later security patches for Android 10/11/12)
Caveat Users may experience app compatibility issues with apps not yet optimized for Android 13; review app permissions and settings after upgrade as some default behaviors may have changed

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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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-2022-20213 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