dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-20771

MEDIUM · 6.4 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 →
66/100
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 display, there is a possible memory corruption due to a race condition. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS07671046; Issue ID: ALPS07671046.

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 confidence

A race condition in the MediaTek display subsystem causes memory corruption, enabling local privilege escalation from System execution privileges without requiring user interaction.

MitigationApply the vendor patch ALPS07671046 or update to a firmware version containing the race condition fix for the display driver.

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:= 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
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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. Confirm Android version is 12.0
    Check Settings > About Phone > Android version or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release'
    Affected if Android version is exactly 12.0
  2. Identify the chipset vendor
    Check device info via Settings > About Phone > Model/Hardware or run 'getprop ro.hardware' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' to look for MediaTek identifier
    Affected if Device uses a MediaTek chipset (e.g., MTK or MediaTek in hardware info)
  3. Verify MediaTek display driver is present
    Check for MediaTek display driver module by running 'ls /vendor/lib/modules/' or 'cat /proc/modules' to look for display-related MediaTek kernel modules (e.g., mtk_drm, mtk_mdp)
    Affected if MediaTek display driver modules are loaded in the kernel
  4. Confirm System execution privileges context
    Determine if the device allows apps with System-level privileges to execute code or if any apps have been granted elevated permissions that could trigger the race condition path
    Affected if Apps or processes with System-level access exist on the device (typical on Android)
  5. Check for vendor patch ALPS07671046
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' or check Settings > About Phone > Security patch level to compare against the patch date
    Affected if Security patch level does not include the fix for this vulnerability (patch date earlier than vendor release)

Device is affected if it runs Android 12.0 with MediaTek chipset and MediaTek display driver, and lacks the vendor-specific security patch for this race condition.

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 ALPS07671046 or update to a firmware version containing the race condition fix for the display driver.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Check if your Android 12.0 device has received the latest Android Security Bulletin update from your device OEM/vendor
  2. Contact your device manufacturer (OEM) to verify if patch ALPS07671046 has been applied to your device
  3. If the patch is not available, inquire about the expected timeline for receiving the security update containing this fix
  4. Apply system updates when available through your device's Settings > System > Software Update path

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-20771 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
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data