dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-20235

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 →
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
The PowerVR GPU kernel driver maintains an "Information Page" used by its cache subsystem. This page can only be written by the GPU driver itself, but prior to DDK 1.18 however, a user-space program could write arbitrary data to the page, leading to memory corruption issues.Product: AndroidVersions: Android SoCAndroid ID: A-259967780

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

The PowerVR GPU kernel driver contains an information page used by its cache subsystem. Prior to DDK version 1.18, a flaw allowed user-space programs to write arbitrary data to this protected page, which should only be writable by the GPU driver itself, leading to memory corruption.

MitigationUpdate the PowerVR GPU driver to DDK 1.18 or later, and apply any available Android security patches from the device manufacturer that address this vulnerability (A-259967780).

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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. Identify PowerVR GPU hardware present
    Check the device's GPU information through available system interfaces (for example, examine /sys/class or /proc/cpuinfo, or use getprop commands that expose GPU hardware details)
    Affected if The device uses a PowerVR GPU chipset from Imagination Technologies
  2. Locate PowerVR kernel driver module
    Search for PowerVR driver files in the kernel module directory (commonly /lib/modules or /vendor/lib/modules)
    Affected if PowerVR GPU kernel modules are loaded on the device
  3. Determine the DDK driver version
    Read the driver version from the loaded module or associated version files (for example, check module info or version strings within the driver file itself)
    Affected if The DDK version is readable and is below 1.18, indicating the vulnerable driver version
  4. Verify cache subsystem configuration
    Examine the GPU driver configuration for the cache subsystem information page settings, if accessible through driver debug or status interfaces
    Affected if The protected information page is exposed and accessible to user-space processes
  5. Confirm user-space write access to protected memory
    Test or inspect whether the cache information page has incorrect permission settings that allow user-mode programs to write to what should be driver-protected memory regions
    Affected if User-space processes have write access to the protected GPU cache information page

The device is affected if it runs a PowerVR GPU with a DDK version earlier than 1.18, as this version introduced the fix that prevents user-space from writing to the protected cache information page.

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

Update the PowerVR GPU driver to DDK 1.18 or later, and apply any available Android security patches from the device manufacturer that address this vulnerability (A-259967780).

Recommended fix High confidence

PowerVR GPU Driver DDK 1.18 or later (delivered via Android monthly security patch)

  1. Check the Android Security Patch Level on the device to determine current firmware version
  2. Apply the Android security update that includes the fix for this vulnerability (Android ID A-259967780)
  3. Verify the PowerVR GPU kernel driver has been updated to DDK version 1.18 or later
  4. After update, confirm the Information Page can no longer be written by user-space programs

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
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,680
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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-2022-20235 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