CVE-2023-21101
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 multiple functions of WVDrmPlugin.cpp, there is a possible use after free due to a race condition. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android SoCAndroid ID: A-258189255
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 race condition in WVDrmPlugin.cpp (Android's Widevine DRM implementation) leads to a use-after-free vulnerability, allowing a local attacker to escalate privileges without requiring additional execution privileges or 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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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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Identify Android security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level (or Settings > System > Security > Security update) and note the displayed dateAffected if The Security Patch Level is earlier than the date when A-258189255 was addressed in Google's monthly Android security bulletin
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Confirm Widevine DRM is in useCheck if the device supports and uses Widevine DRM for content protection - this is typically visible in Settings > Security > DRM Info or through media player apps that show DRM statusAffected if Widevine DRM is enabled and the device plays protected content (this confirms the vulnerable component is active)
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Verify Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version to determine the OS versionAffected if The device runs any Android version (per the advisory, all versions are affected prior to the patch)
A user is affected if their device has a Security Patch Level earlier than the fix date for A-258189255 AND Widevine DRM is enabled on the device.
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 level that addresses A-258189255 (available in Google's monthly Android security bulletin). This is a system-level DRM component fix requiring a platform update rather than an application-level change.
Android Security Patch Level June 2023 or later (Android 14 beta / stable releases include the fix)
- Check your Android device for system updates by going to Settings > System > Software Update
- Install the latest Android security patch level available for your device
- After updating, verify the patch level by going to Settings > System > About Phone > Android version to confirm the security patch date is June 2023 or later
- If your device manufacturer has not released a security update addressing CVE-2023-21101, consider upgrading to a device that receives regular security updates
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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 $5,248.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21101 — 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-2023-21101 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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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