AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-20431

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
There is an missing authorization issue in the system service. Since the component does not have permission check , resulting in Local Elevation of privilege.Product: AndroidVersions: Android SoCAndroid ID: A-242221238

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 missing authorization check in an Android system service allows a local attacker to perform privileged operations without proper permission validation, resulting in local privilege escalation. The vulnerability exists because the affected component lacks a permission check that should enforce access controls.

MitigationApply the latest Android security patch level (2022-12-05 or later) from device manufacturers to address the missing authorization check in the system service. Organizations should maintain current Android security updates across their device fleets.

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Check Android security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level on the Android device, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch'
    Affected if The patch level is earlier than 2022-12-05, meaning the device has not received the fix for this vulnerability
  2. Check Android OS version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if The device is running any version of Android without the December 2022 security update applied
  3. Verify if device receives carrier/OEM updates
    Check with the device manufacturer or carrier that the December 2022 Android security bulletin (SVE-2022-20431) is included in the available updates for this specific model
    Affected if The manufacturer has not released or scheduled the December 2022 security patch for this device model

A device is affected if it has not applied the December 2022 Android security patch (2022-12-05) which addresses the missing authorization check in the system service.

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 latest Android security patch level (2022-12-05 or later) from device manufacturers to address the missing authorization check in the system service. Organizations should maintain current Android security updates across their device fleets.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

December 2022 Android Security Bulletin (or later security update)

  1. Check the Android Security Bulletin for the month this vulnerability was addressed (CVE-2022-20431 was fixed in the December 2022 Android Security Bulletin)
  2. Apply the latest Android security patch level for your device
  3. For Android devices, ensure the security patch level is December 2022 or later
  4. If your device no longer receives official security updates, consider upgrading to a device that still receives monthly security patches
  5. Verify the patch was applied by checking Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
Caveat Ensure device compatibility with the security update; some older devices may stop receiving updates

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,460
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-20431 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-20431 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