CVE-2023-20775
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 display, 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: ALPS07978760; Issue ID: ALPS07363410.
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 confidenceThis is a buffer overflow vulnerability in the display subsystem where a missing bounds check allows an out-of-bounds write. It enables local privilege escalation to System level from an already compromised System execution context. The vulnerability exists in the display driver component (ALPS - Android Linux Platform Software, typically MediaTek-based devices).
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= 12.0= 13.0= 21.02CVSS 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.
-
Identify your device OS and versionOn Android, run 'getprop ro.build.version.release'; On OpenWrt, run 'cat /etc/os-release' and look for VERSION="21.02"Affected if The version is Android 12.0 or 13.0, or OpenWrt 21.02
-
Verify MediaTek chipset usageOn Android, run 'getprop ro.mediatek.platform' or check '/proc/cpuinfo' for MediaTek; On OpenWrt, check 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' for MediaTek hardwareAffected if The device uses a MediaTek chipset (MTK) since the vulnerability is in the ALPS display driver specific to MediaTek-based devices
-
Confirm display driver component presenceCheck for the presence of the ALPS display driver module by looking for files matching 'mdss' or 'ddp' in /sys/module/ (Android) or /proc/modules (OpenWrt), or check dmesg for MediaTek display driver messagesAffected if The MediaTek display driver (ALPS display subsystem) is loaded and active on the device
-
Check current privilege contextRun 'id' or 'whoami' to determine your current execution contextAffected if You are running as the System user (uid 1000) or higher privilege, since the vulnerability requires already having System-level access to exploit
You are affected if your device runs Android 12.0/13.0 or OpenWrt 21.02 on MediaTek hardware with the ALPS display driver loaded, and you already have System-level code execution context.
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 ALPS07978760 which adds proper bounds checking to prevent the out-of-bounds write. Since this is a display driver vulnerability requiring System privileges to exploit, ensure the device is on a supported software version with timely security updates.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,520.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-20775 — 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-2023-20775 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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