CVE-2022-20578
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 RadioImpl::setGsmBroadcastConfig of ril_service_legacy.cpp, there is a possible stack clash leading to memory corruption. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android kernelAndroid ID: A-243509749References: N/A
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 confidenceA stack clash vulnerability exists in Android's Radio Interface Layer (RIL) within the setGsmBroadcastConfig function in ril_service_legacy.cpp. The function fails to properly enforce memory boundaries during GSM broadcast configuration processing, allowing the stack to collide with adjacent memory regions. This memory corruption can be exploited for local privilege escalation from the base System privileges.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Android Security Patch LevelNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shellAffected if The patch level is earlier than February 2022, or the device does not have the A-243509749 fix included
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Locate the RIL library on the deviceRun 'find /system -name '*ril*.so*' 2>/dev/null' or 'ls -la /system/lib*/libril.so' via ADB shell to find the libril libraryAffected if The libril.so library exists on the device - the vulnerability resides in ril_service_legacy.cpp which is compiled into this library
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Verify the setGsmBroadcastConfig function exists in the RIL libraryRun 'strings /system/lib/libril.so | grep -i setGsmBroadcastConfig' or use 'nm -C /system/lib/libril.so | grep setGsmBroadcastConfig' via ADB shellAffected if The function symbol is found, indicating the vulnerable code path is present in the deployed library
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Confirm current process runs with System privilegesRun 'id' or 'ps -A | grep rild' via ADB shell to check the privilege level of the RIL daemon processAffected if The rild process or your current shell shows UID as 'system' (1000) rather than root (0) - the exploit escalates from System to root
The device is affected if the security patch level is missing the A-243509749 fix (pre-February 2022) AND the setGsmBroadcastConfig function is present in the libril.so library, as the exploit requires System-level access to escalate to root.
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 dataApply the appropriate Android security patch level containing the fix for A-243509749. Since this is a system-level radio/telephony component vulnerability, remediation requires updating the device with vendor-provided system images containing the patched ril_service_legacy.cpp code.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation10.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-20578 — 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-2022-20578 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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