AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-20436

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 unauthorized service in the system service. Since the component does not have permission check, resulting in Local Elevation of privilege.Product: AndroidVersions: Android SoCAndroid ID: A-242248369

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 local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Android's system service where an unauthorized service lacks proper permission checking. A local attacker can exploit this missing authorization to elevate privileges by accessing a system service that should require authentication or permission validation.

MitigationApply the Android security patch for CVE-2022-20436 from your device or SoC vendor. This is a framework-level fix requiring a system update; there are no user-facing workarounds.

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 version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if The device runs any version of Android (all versions are affected)
  2. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the date the CVE-2022-20436 fix was released (typically October 2022 or later)
  3. Identify vulnerable system service
    Review system services running as root or with elevated privileges using 'dumpsys' commands or analyze service logs for permission validation failures
    Affected if A system service lacking proper permission checking is present and accessible to local applications

If the device has not applied the October 2022 or later Android security patch, the system service vulnerability remains unfixed and could allow local privilege escalation.

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 Android security patch for CVE-2022-20436 from your device or SoC vendor. This is a framework-level fix requiring a system update; there are no user-facing workarounds.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android devices with November 2022 security patch level (2022-11-01) or later

  1. 1. Check your device's current Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Android version security patch level
  2. 2. Ensure your device has the November 2022 security patch (2022-11-01) or later installed
  3. 3. Go to Settings > System > Software Update (or Settings > About Phone > System Update)
  4. 4. Check for and install any available system updates
  5. 5. If no update is available, contact your device manufacturer (OEM) for the security patch or consider using a device that receives regular security updates
Caveat Some older devices may no longer receive monthly security updates from their manufacturer; consider using a device with active security support

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,480
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-20436 — 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-2022-20436 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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