CVE-2023-21015
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 getAvailabilityStatus of several Transcode Permission Controllers, there is a possible permission bypass due to a missing permission check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-13Android ID: A-244569778
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 confidenceA missing permission check in the getAvailabilityStatus method of Android's Transcode Permission Controller allows a local attacker to bypass permission requirements and escalate privileges. This affects Android 13 devices and enables privilege escalation without user interaction.
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= 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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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Verify Android versionCheck the device's Android version in Settings > About Phone > Android version, or use 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release'Affected if The device is running Android 13.0 (exactly version 13.0)
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Confirm build fingerprint includes Android 13Run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.fingerprint' and verify the version string shows android 13 or API level 33Affected if The build fingerprint does not indicate Android 13 or the device is on a different Android version
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Check if Transcode Permission Controller existsRun 'adb shell pm list packages | grep -i transcode' to list packages containing 'transcode' in the nameAffected if The Transcode Permission Controller package is present on the device
The device is affected if it is running Android 13.0 and contains the Transcode Permission Controller component, as the missing permission check vulnerability exists in that specific version.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply the Android security patch for CVE-2023-21015, which includes the missing permission check in the Transcode Permission Controller code.
Update to a newer Android version (Android 14 or later recommended) or apply the latest Android security patch level available for your device
- Check the current Android version on the device in Settings > About Phone > Android version
- Go to Settings > System > Software Update (or Settings > Security & Privacy > Security Update on some devices)
- Check for and install any available Android system updates
- After updating, verify the Android version reflects the new security patch level
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $4,992.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21015 — 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-2023-21015 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data