CVE-2023-21177
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 requestAppKeyboardShortcuts of WindowManagerService.java, there is a possible way to infer the app a user is interacting with due to a missing permission check. This could lead to local information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-13Android ID: A-273906410
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 confidenceIn WindowManagerService.java's requestAppKeyboardShortcuts method, a missing permission check allows a local unprivileged application to infer which app the user is currently interacting with, leading to local information disclosure without requiring 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Check Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via adb shellAffected if Version is exactly 13.0 and no security patch has been applied
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Check security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via adb shellAffected if Security patch level is earlier than the June 2023 Android Security Bulletin or not present
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Verify the vulnerability exists in system imageInspect the WindowManagerService.java in the system firmware or check the build fingerprint for the AOSP commit fix (commit ID: aosp/2341729)Affected if The system image predates the fix and the requestAppKeyboardShortcuts method lacks a permission check like android.Manifest.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED or equivalent validation
A device is affected if it runs Android 13.0 and has not received the Google security patch addressing CVE-2023-21177.
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 · scopedThis vulnerability requires a patch from Google in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) to add proper permission validation in the requestAppKeyboardShortcuts method. Users should apply available Android security updates.
Android 13.0 with July 2023 security patch level (or later) / Android 14
- Check the current Android security patch level on the device via Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
- If the device is on Android 13.0, upgrade to the latest Android 13 security update that includes the fix for Android ID A-273906410
- Alternatively, upgrade to Android 14 which contains the fix for this vulnerability
- Verify the fix by confirming the security patch level includes the July 2023 or later Android Security Bulletin
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,864.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21177 — 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-2023-21177 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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