CVE-2022-20272
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 · uneditedIn PermissionController, there is a possible misunderstanding about the default SMS application's permission set due to misleading text. This could lead to local information disclosure with User privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-13Android ID: A-207672568
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 confidenceIn Android's PermissionController component, misleading text causes users to misunderstand the default SMS application's permission set. This UI/UX issue could lead to local information disclosure, as users may incorrectly grant or understand SMS permissions. Exploitation requires user interaction.
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= 13.0CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Android version is 13.0Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'Affected if Android version equals 13.0 exactly (this is the only affected version)
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Identify the default SMS appGo to Settings > Apps > Default apps > SMS app, or run 'adb shell pm get-default-sms-app' to see which app is set as the default SMS handlerAffected if A default SMS app is configured (the misleading text applies when viewing this app's permissions)
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View the PermissionController SMS permission textNavigate to Settings > Apps > Default apps > SMS app > Permissions, observe the permission description text shown for SMS-related permissionsAffected if The displayed permission text is misleading or unclear about what the app can actually access
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Compare displayed permissions to actual granted permissionsRun 'adb shell dumpsys package <sms_app_package>' and check the granted permissions under 'granted=true', compare this list to what PermissionController displays in the UIAffected if The UI shows fewer or different permissions than what is actually granted to the app
You are affected if you are running Android 13.0 and have a default SMS app configured where the PermissionController UI displays misleading permission descriptions that do not accurately reflect the permissions actually granted to that app.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataThe fix requires Google to correct the misleading permission text in the Android PermissionController. Users should verify SMS app permissions manually in Settings > Apps > Default apps before trusting SMS functionality.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-20272 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-20272 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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