AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-20448

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-08
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
In buzzBeepBlinkLocked of NotificationManagerService.java, there is a possible way to share data across users due to a permissions bypass. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-10 Android-11 Android-12 Android-12L Android-13Android ID: A-237540408

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 permissions bypass in the buzzBeepBlinkLocked function of Android's NotificationManagerService allows data to be shared across different user profiles on the same device. This enables a local attacker to escalate privileges by accessing notifications or system data from another user's session without proper authorization checks.

MitigationApply the September 2022 Android security patch (or later) to affected devices. Organizations should ensure mobile device management policies enforce timely security updates.

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= 12.1= 13.0

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Android version
    Run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version
    Affected if The version displayed is 10.0, 11.0, 12.0, 12.1, or 13.0
  2. Check for multiple user profiles
    Run 'adb shell pm list users' to see if more than one user exists on the device
    Affected if The output shows multiple users (UserInfo entries beyond the primary user)
  3. Verify NotificationManagerService exposure
    Review any installed applications that have access to notifications or use the NotificationListenerService API, especially those with profile-switching capabilities
    Affected if Apps with notification access exist on a multi-user device running an affected Android version

A device is affected if it runs Android 10.0, 11.0, 12.0, 12.1, or 13.0 AND has multiple user profiles configured, allowing potential cross-profile notification data exposure through the vulnerable NotificationManagerService component.

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 September 2022 Android security patch (or later) to affected devices. Organizations should ensure mobile device management policies enforce timely security updates.

Recommended fix High confidence

October 2022 Android Security Patch Level or later (device-specific)

  1. 1. Check your device's current Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Android version
  2. 2. Update your device to the latest available Android security patch level (October 2022 or later)
  3. 3. For Android 10, 11, 12, 12L, and 13 devices, ensure the update includes the October 2022 Android Security Bulletin patch for CVE-2022-20448
  4. 4. If your device manufacturer has not released an update containing the fix, consider upgrading to a device model that receives regular security 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
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-20448 — 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-2022-20448 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