dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-20787

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-07
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 thermal, there is a possible use after free 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: ALPS07648734; Issue ID: ALPS07648734.

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

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's thermal management subsystem due to a race condition. An attacker with System-level execution privileges can exploit this race condition to achieve local privilege escalation to root, without requiring user interaction.

MitigationApply vendor patch ALPS07648734 to the kernel. Prior to patching, restrict local untrusted access and monitor for indicators of compromise. After patching, verify thermal management functionality remains operational.

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
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or check Settings > About Phone > Android version. This CVE affects only Android 12.0 exactly.
    Affected if The system is running Android version 12.0 (not 12L, 13, or other versions)
  2. Identify kernel version
    Run 'uname -a' or check /proc/version to retrieve the kernel version string.
    Affected if Unable to compare against a patched kernel version because no specific vulnerable/patched version numbers were provided in the CVE data
  3. Verify thermal management subsystem is active
    Check for thermal-related kernel modules or sysfs entries: 'ls /sys/class/thermal/' or 'getprop | grep thermal'. The vulnerability exists in the thermal management code path.
    Affected if Thermal management subsystem is present and active (typical for Android devices)
  4. Check for indicators of privilege escalation
    Review system logs for unusual root-level process execution: 'dmesg' for kernel messages, 'logcat' for user-space logs, or check /proc/*/status for unexpected UID 0 (root) processes owned by untrusted users.
    Affected if Unexpected root-privileged processes exist that were not initiated by system services

A system is affected if it runs Google Android version 12.0 exactly and has the thermal management subsystem active; exploitation requires local code execution with system-level privileges.

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 vendor patch ALPS07648734 to the kernel. Prior to patching, restrict local untrusted access and monitor for indicators of compromise. After patching, verify thermal management functionality remains operational.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest Android Security Patch Level (manufacturer-specific firmware containing MediaTek ALPS07648734 fix)

  1. 1. Check the current Android Security Patch Level on the device via Settings > About Phone > Build Number or Settings > Security > Security Patch Level
  2. 2. Contact the device manufacturer (OEM) for the specific firmware update containing MediaTek patch ALPS07648734
  3. 3. Apply the manufacturer-provided security update that includes the fix for CVE-2023-20787
  4. 4. Verify the update was applied by re-checking the Security Patch Level after reboot
Caveat OEM-dependent; some manufacturers may have ended support for Android 12.0 devices

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
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
25.0 hours of engineering $4,200
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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-2023-20787 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