dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2022-42507

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
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 ProtocolSimBuilder::BuildSimUpdatePb3gEntry of protocolsimbuilder.cpp, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. 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-241388774References: 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 · moderate confidence

Out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Android kernel's ProtocolSimBuilder::BuildSimUpdatePb3gEntry function in protocolsimbuilder.cpp due to missing bounds check. Allows local privilege escalation to System privileges without user interaction.

MitigationRequires kernel-level patch from Android to add proper bounds checking in BuildSimUpdatePb3gEntry. System software update from device OEM needed.

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check Android Security Patch Level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell
    Affected if The Security Patch Level is earlier than November 2022 (the month CVE-2022-42507 was published)
  2. Verify Kernel Version
    Run 'uname -r' via ADB shell or check in Settings > About Phone > Kernel Version
    Affected if The kernel version is older than the version that includes the bounds checking fix in BuildSimUpdatePb3gEntry (compare against Android kernel changelogs for your specific SoC)
  3. Check for Vulnerable Module
    Run 'ls /system/lib64/libprotocolsim.so' or search for protocolsimbuilder.cpp compiled into the kernel image via 'zcat /proc/config.gz' if available
    Affected if The protocolsim module exists and the kernel was built before the November 2022 security update
  4. Confirm Exploitability Conditions
    Verify if the device has baseband/processor firmware that utilizes the BuildSimUpdatePb3gEntry function by checking logs for 'ProtocolSimBuilder' or 'SimUpdatePb3gEntry' entries
    Affected if The function is present in the runtime environment and the security patch is unapplied

A user is affected if their Android device has a Security Patch Level before November 2022 and runs a kernel containing the BuildSimUpdatePb3gEntry function without the bounds checking fix.

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

Requires kernel-level patch from Android to add proper bounds checking in BuildSimUpdatePb3gEntry. System software update from device OEM needed.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Android Security Patch Level containing CVE-2022-42507 fix (check Android Security Bulletin for specific month - source.android.com/security/bulletin)

  1. Check the Android Security Bulletin for the month when CVE-2022-42507 was patched (refer to source.android.com/security/bulletin)
  2. Identify the Android Security Patch Level (SPL) that includes the fix for this vulnerability
  3. Upgrade the Android device to a system image that includes the security patch containing the fix for A-241388774
  4. For development/build environments, ensure you are building from an Android Open Source Project (AOSP) branch that includes the fix for protocolsimbuilder.cpp
Caveat Ensure compatibility testing is performed after applying the security update, as this vulnerability is in the protocol simulation builder component

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2022-42507 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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