dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-20455

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-28
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 addAutomaticZenRule of ZenModeHelper.java, there is a possible persistent denial of service due to resource exhaustion. This could lead to local denial of service 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-242537431

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 resource exhaustion vulnerability exists in the addAutomaticZenRule function of ZenModeHelper.java in Android's Do Not Disturb (Zen Mode) functionality. The function lacks proper validation or limits on resources when adding automatic zen rules, allowing a local attacker to repeatedly add rules until system resources are exhausted, causing persistent denial of service.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided Android security patch for CVE-2022-20455, which adds proper resource limits and validation to the addAutomaticZenRule function to prevent unlimited rule creation.

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release')
    Affected if The version equals 10.0, 11.0, 12.0, 12.1, or 13.0
  2. Count automatic Zen rules
    Open Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb > Automatic rules (or run 'adb shell settings get secure zen_mode_automatic_rules' to list configured rules)
    Affected if An unexpectedly large number of automatic rules are present or the command returns a large JSON array with many rule entries
  3. Check for duplicate or unknown rules
    Manually review each rule in Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb > Automatic rules and look for rules you did not create or that have suspicious trigger conditions
    Affected if Rules exist that were not intentionally created by the device user or administrator
  4. Verify Settings access is slow or unresponsive
    Attempt to open Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb and observe if the page loads slowly, hangs, or crashes
    Affected if The Do Not Disturb settings screen is extremely slow or crashes when opened, indicating possible resource exhaustion from excess rules

A device is affected if it runs Android 10.0, 11.0, 12.0, 12.1, or 13.0 AND contains an unusually high number of automatic Do Not Disturb rules or unknown rules that were not intentionally created.

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 vendor-provided Android security patch for CVE-2022-20455, which adds proper resource limits and validation to the addAutomaticZenRule function to prevent unlimited rule creation.

Recommended fix High confidence

December 2022 Android Security Patch Level (or later)

  1. Check your Android device's current security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
  2. Ensure your device is running at least the December 2022 security update or later
  3. Go to Settings > System > System Update and check for updates
  4. Install any available security updates that include the December 2022 patch level or newer
  5. After updating, verify the security patch level reflects the fix in Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level

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 / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-20455 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