CVE-2023-20737
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 use after free due to improper locking. 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: ALPS07645167.
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 confidenceThis is a use-after-free vulnerability in the VCU (Video Coding Unit) component where improper locking allows memory to be accessed after it has been freed. The lack of proper synchronization enables a local attacker with System privileges to potentially escalate privileges by exploiting the freed memory. No user interaction is required for exploitation.
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 the Android versionRun 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version. Compare the output to the affected versions 12.0 and 13.0.Affected if The Android version is exactly 12.0 or 13.0
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Identify the Yocto Linux versionCheck the /etc/version or /etc/lsb-release file, or run 'uname -a' to view kernel and system information. Look for version indicators matching 4.0 or 22.2.Affected if The Yocto version is exactly 4.0 (Linuxfoundation Yocto) or 22.2 (Linuxfoundation IoT Yocto)
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Verify VCU driver presence on the systemCheck for the presence of VCU-related kernel modules or device nodes. On Android, examine /proc/config.gz (if available) or check /sys/module for 'vcu' or 'video_codec' related modules. On Yocto, use 'lsmod' to list loaded modules and look for VCU or video coding unit drivers.Affected if The VCU (Video Coding Unit) driver or module is loaded and present on the system
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Determine current process privilegesRun 'id' or 'whoami' to check the current user's privileges. For Android, use 'dumpsys activity activities' to identify running processes with System-level privileges. The vulnerability requires System privileges for exploitation.Affected if Processes with System-level UID (1000) or root (uid 0) privileges are running and have access to the VCU subsystem
A system is affected if it runs Android 12.0 or 13.0, or Yocto 4.0 or 22.2, and has the VCU component present with processes holding System privileges that can access the video coding unit.
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 vendor patch ALPS07645149 to address the improper locking in the VCU component. Since System execution privileges are required, ensure that only trusted code executes with elevated privileges and consider implementing additional access controls on the VCU subsystem.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20737 — 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-2023-20737 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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