CVE-2023-20653
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 keyinstall, 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. Patch ID: ALPS07628168; Issue ID: ALPS07589144.
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 confidenceAn out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in Android's keyinstall module due to a missing bounds check. This allows a local attacker with System execution privileges to write beyond allocated buffer boundaries, potentially achieving privilege escalation.
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= 10.0= 11.0= 12.0= 13.0CVSS 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 versionRun 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android versionAffected if The version is 10.0, 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 exactly (matching the = version specifier)
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Verify keyinstall module presenceCheck if the keyinstall service or binary exists on the device. Look in /system/bin, /vendor/bin, or /odm/bin for 'keyinstall' or check /proc/$(pid)/cmdline for keyinstall processesAffected if The keyinstall module or service is present and running on the device
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Check keyinstall service statusRun 'ps -A | grep -i keyinstall' or check service list via 'service list' to see if keyinstall is an active serviceAffected if The keyinstall service is registered and running with System privileges
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Confirm System-level execution contextVerify the device has apps or processes running with System UID (1000) that can invoke keyinstall APIs. Check via 'ps -A | grep -E "system_server|keyinstall"'Affected if Processes with System privileges exist that interact with the keyinstall module
The device is affected if it runs Android 10.0, 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 AND has the keyinstall module present and accessible with System execution privileges.
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 vendor patch (ALPS07628168) to the Android system image. This is a code-level fix requiring a bounds check addition in the keyinstall component.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 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 $4,864.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20653 — 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-2023-20653 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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