CVE-2023-21151
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 the Google BMS kernel module, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a heap buffer overflow. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android kernelAndroid ID: A-265149414References: N/A
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 confidenceA heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the Google BMS (Battery Management System) kernel module in Android. The flaw allows an out-of-bounds write in kernel heap memory, potentially enabling a local attacker with System-level privileges to escalate to root privileges 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 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
- 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.
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Identify if the BMS kernel module is presentRun 'lsmod | grep -i bms' or check '/proc/modules' for any loaded module matching 'bms', 'battery', or 'BMS'Affected if The BMS module is loaded and active on the device
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Check the Android OS versionExecute 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or inspect '/system/build.prop' for the ro.build.version.release propertyAffected if The Android version is prior to the patched release containing Android ID A-265149414
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Check the kernel versionRun 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version' to obtain the running kernel versionAffected if The kernel version predates the security patch for CVE-2023-21151
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Verify System-level process access controlsReview permissions on system processes that interact with the BMS module via 'ps -A | grep -i system' and check SELinux policies if availableAffected if Privileged system processes exist without additional isolation or restrictions
A device is affected if the BMS kernel module is loaded and the Android/kernel version has not received the A-265149414 security patch.
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 relevant Android kernel security patch (Android ID A-265149414) via device vendor OTA updates. Until the patch is applied, reduce attack surface by limiting access to privileged system processes and monitoring for unusual kernel behavior.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21151 — 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-2023-21151 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
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