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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-21125

HIGH · 8.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
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 btif_hh_hsdata_rpt_copy_cb of bta_hh.cc, there is a possible way to corrupt memory due to a use after free. This could lead to local escalation of privilege over Bluetooth with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.

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 use-after-free vulnerability exists in btif_hh_hsdata_rpt_copy_cb within bta_hh.cc in Android's Bluetooth stack. The function handles HID (Human Interface Device) report data and fails to properly manage memory lifecycle, allowing freed memory to be accessed. This memory corruption can be exploited locally over Bluetooth to achieve escalation of privilege without requiring user interaction or additional execution privileges.

MitigationApply the vendor patch for CVE-2023-21125 which addresses the memory management issue in the Bluetooth HID report handling code (bta_hh.cc). This is a code-level fix requiring updates to the Android Bluetooth component.

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= 12.1

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone and check the Android version field. It should display exactly 12.0 or 12.1.
    Affected if The Android version is 12.0 or 12.1 exactly.
  2. Confirm Bluetooth is enabled
    Check if Bluetooth is turned on in Settings > Bluetooth, or run: adb shell settings get global bluetooth_on
    Affected if Bluetooth is enabled and the Android version is 12.0 or 12.1.
  3. Check for active HID over Bluetooth
    Inspect if any HID devices are connected via Bluetooth (keyboards, mice, game controllers). On the device: Settings > Bluetooth > Paired devices, or run: adb shell dumpsys bluetooth_manager | grep -i hid
    Affected if A Bluetooth HID device is connected while running affected Android versions.
  4. Verify Bluetooth stack version
    If available, check the Bluetooth system service version: adb shell dumpsys bluetooth_btservice | grep -i version, or examine /system/lib64/libbluetooth.so for build timestamp.
    Affected if The Bluetooth component version cannot be determined or predates the CVE fix (post-December 2023 security patch).

You are affected only if your device runs Android 12.0 or 12.1 exactly, has Bluetooth enabled, and the Bluetooth component lacks the December 2023 security patch.

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 for CVE-2023-21125 which addresses the memory management issue in the Bluetooth HID report handling code (bta_hh.cc). This is a code-level fix requiring updates to the Android Bluetooth component.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 13 (or later stable release)

  1. Upgrade the device to Android 13 or later to obtain the fixed Bluetooth stack implementation
  2. If immediate upgrade is not possible, apply the latest available Android security patch level for Android 12 (check Settings > Security > Security update for latest available update)
  3. Verify the Android version after update confirms the fix is applied
Caveat Android 13 upgrade may introduce UI changes; verify app compatibility before deployment in enterprise environments

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,940
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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-2023-21125 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