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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-20768

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-04
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 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: ALPS07559800.

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

In the Linux kernel ion memory allocator, a type confusion vulnerability exists that can cause an out of bounds read. This allows a local attacker with System-level privileges to escalate to higher privileges without user interaction.

MitigationApply the vendor patch (ALPS07560720) to the kernel ion subsystem. If unavailable, review the ion heap implementation for type validation issues in memory allocation handling and implement proper type checking before dereferencing.

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:= 11.0= 12.0

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 version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version
    Affected if Version is exactly 11.0 or 12.0 (not 13.0 or later)
  2. Verify ion kernel support is present
    Check /proc/config.gz for CONFIG_ION=y or CONFIG_ION=y, or check /sys/kernel/debug/ion/ for heap information
    Affected if Ion memory allocator is compiled into or loaded by the kernel
  3. Identify active ion heaps
    Check /sys/kernel/debug/ion/ or use 'cat /sys/kernel/debug/ion/heaps' to list configured ion heaps
    Affected if Any ion heap is actively configured (the vulnerability affects type handling in heap implementations)
  4. Examine ion heap type handling
    Review kernel logs (dmesg) for ion-related warnings or errors, and check ion heap driver source for type validation in alloc path
    Affected if Ion heap driver lacks proper type checking before dereferencing in memory allocation handling

Your device is affected if it runs Android 11.0 or 12.0 AND has the ion memory allocator enabled with active ion heaps, as the type confusion flaw exists in the ion subsystem's heap implementation for these versions.

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

Apply the vendor patch (ALPS07560720) to the kernel ion subsystem. If unavailable, review the ion heap implementation for type validation issues in memory allocation handling and implement proper type checking before dereferencing.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Apply the MediaTek security patch ALPS07560720 via OEM system security update (typically included in Android security bulletins for affected versions)

  1. Check your Android device for the latest system security update in Settings > Security > Security update level
  2. Contact your device manufacturer (OEM) to confirm they have released a patch incorporating MediaTek security bulletin ALPS07560720
  3. If available, apply the system security update which should contain the fix for CVE-2023-20768
  4. Verify the patch is applied by checking the Android Security Patch Level in Settings > About Phone > Software Information
Caveat Patches are backward-compatible security fixes; minimal risk of breaking changes

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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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-2023-20768 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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