AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-39120

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-14
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 sensor driver, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local denial of service in kernel.

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 · low confidence

In a sensor driver within the Linux kernel, an out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists due to a missing bounds check. This allows a local attacker to trigger the vulnerability, potentially causing a denial of service through kernel crash or instability.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied kernel security patch which adds proper bounds validation to the sensor driver. Alternatively, if no patch is available, disable or blacklist the affected sensor driver until a fix is released.

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

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 OS version
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if The reported version equals 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0 exactly
  2. Identify kernel version
    Run 'uname -r' in ADB shell or check /proc/version
    Affected if Kernel version corresponds to an Android 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0 release for your device model
  3. List loaded sensor kernel modules
    Run 'lsmod' or check /proc/modules in ADB shell to enumerate currently loaded kernel modules related to sensors
    Affected if Any sensor driver module is currently loaded and active in the kernel
  4. Identify sensor driver presence in kernel
    Check /sys/class/sensors/ directory for available sensor entries, or review kernel config for sensor driver compilation status
    Affected if Sensor driver support is compiled into or loaded by the running kernel
  5. Verify sensor driver is actively used
    Query sensor data via sensorservice or check /dev/ for sensor device nodes, or monitor sensor input via getevent
    Affected if Any sensor is actively consuming data from the driver

Your device is likely affected if it runs Android 10.0, 11.0, or 12.0 and has any sensor driver module loaded, since the vulnerability exists in the sensor driver code path for these versions.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied kernel security patch which adds proper bounds validation to the sensor driver. Alternatively, if no patch is available, disable or blacklist the affected sensor driver until a fix is released.

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
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-39120 — 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-2022-39120 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