CVE-2023-20616
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 ion, there is a possible out of bounds read due to type confusion. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS07560720; Issue ID: ALPS07560720.
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 confidenceIn the ion memory allocator, a type confusion vulnerability allows an out of bounds read, which can be exploited for local privilege escalation to System level without requiring user interaction.
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= 11.0= 12.0CVSS 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 versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if Version is exactly 11.0 or 12.0
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Confirm ion memory allocator is presentCheck for ion driver in kernel modules or device /proc filesystem: look for 'ion' in /proc/modules or check /dev/ion existenceAffected if ion allocator is present on the device
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Identify kernel build informationRun 'uname -a' or check /proc/version to retrieve kernel version and build informationAffected if Kernel is from an affected Android 11.0 or 12.0 build without the ALPS07560720 patch
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Check for patch implementationReview ion driver source code or kernel boot logs for references to patch ALPS07560720, or examine ion heap metadata handling code pathsAffected if No evidence of the ALPS07560720 patch in the ion driver implementation
Device is affected if running exactly Android 11.0 or 12.0 with the ion memory allocator enabled and the ALPS07560720 patch has not been applied.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply patch ALPS07560720 to the ion driver in the affected kernel/ROM build to address the type confusion vulnerability.
Latest Android security patch level available from OEM (containing MediaTek patch ALPS07560720)
- 1. Check the current Android security patch level on the device by navigating to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
- 2. Contact the device manufacturer (OEM) to confirm they have released a security update containing MediaTek patch ALPS07560720
- 3. Apply the latest available security update from the device manufacturer
- 4. Verify the security patch level has been updated to a version that includes the fix for CVE-2023-20616
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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 locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20616 — 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-2023-20616 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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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.
- 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
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