CVE-2023-20735
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 vcu, 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: ALPS07645149; Issue ID: ALPS07645178.
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 confidenceIn MediaTek's VCU (Video Control Unit) driver, a missing bounds check allows an out-of-bounds write vulnerability. A local attacker with System execution privileges can exploit this to achieve further privilege escalation, 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= 22.2= 4.0= 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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Identify MediaTek hardware platformCheck system information for MediaTek chipset: on Android use 'Settings > About Phone > Model' or run 'getprop ro.hardware' in shell; on Yocto check '/proc/cpuinfo' or 'lspci' output for MediaTek deviceAffected if System does not use a MediaTek chipset - the vulnerability only affects MediaTek VCU driver
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Verify VCU driver presenceCheck if the Video Control Unit driver is loaded: on Android check '/vendor/lib/modules/' or '/system/lib/modules/' for vcu* or mediatek/vcu* kernel modules; on Yocto check '/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/' for vcu driver filesAffected if VCU driver is not present - the vulnerability requires the MediaTek VCU driver to be loaded
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Check system OS version against affected rangesOn Android run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' in shell to get the Android version; on Yocto check '/etc/os-release' or run 'cat /etc/version' to identify the Yocto versionAffected if Android version is NOT 12.0 or 13.0, or Yocto version is NOT 4.0 or 22.2 - the vulnerability only applies to these specific versions according to the affected product list
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Confirm kernel driver version if accessibleIf you can access the driver, check its version metadata: 'modinfo <vcu_driver_path>' on Yocto or check module info via 'ls -la /vendor/lib/modules/' on Android - compare against any available MediaTek security patch informationAffected if Driver version cannot be verified or does not have the ALPS07645149 patch applied - the vulnerability exists in unpatched driver versions
A system is affected only if it uses MediaTek hardware with the VCU driver present, running Android 12.0/13.0 or Yocto 4.0/22.2, and lacks the ALPS07645149 security patch.
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 security patch ALPS07645149 through MediaTek firmware/ROM updates for affected devices. This is a driver-level fix requiring system software update, not a code-level remediation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20735 — 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-2023-20735 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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