CVE-2023-21225
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 · uneditedthere is a possible way to bypass the protected confirmation screen due to Failure to lock display power. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android kernelAndroid ID: A-270403821References: 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 vulnerability in the Android kernel's display power management allows bypassing protected confirmation screens due to improper display power locking. This enables local privilege escalation without additional execution privileges, though user interaction is required for exploitation.
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
- 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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Check Android Security Patch LevelRun 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' or go to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level to view the installed security patch dateAffected if The security patch level predates the Android security bulletin that includes the fix for A-270403821 (CVE-2023-21225)
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Verify Kernel VersionExecute 'adb shell uname -r' or 'adb shell cat /proc/version' to retrieve the running kernel version, or view it in Settings > About Phone > Kernel VersionAffected if The kernel version is older than the version that contains the display power management fix for this vulnerability
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Check Build Fingerprint for Patch DateRun 'adb shell getprop ro.build.fingerprint' to obtain the full build identifier which includes the month and year of the security patchesAffected if The build fingerprint indicates a security patch date before the fix was released
The device is affected if the Android security patch level does not include the month when A-270403821 was addressed, as this is a kernel-level flaw requiring a patched kernel to be mitigated.
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 includes the fix for A-270403821. This is a kernel-level vulnerability that requires updating the Android device to a version with the patched kernel.
Latest Android security patch level (monthly update containing CVE-2023-21225 fix)
- Check the current Android security patch level on the device: Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
- If the patch level is earlier than the fixed release, apply the latest available system/security update from the device manufacturer
- For Pixel devices, ensure the latest monthly security update is installed
- After updating, verify the fix is applied by confirming the security patch level includes the CVE-2023-21225 fix
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $4,928.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21225 — 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-2023-21225 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