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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-32872

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-01-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 keyInstall, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS08308607; Issue ID: ALPS08308607.

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 confidence

Out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the keyInstall component (likely Android Keymaster/TEE subsystem) due to missing bounds check. Allows local privilege escalation from System execution privileges without user interaction. The vulnerability stems from improper array/index validation before memory write operations.

MitigationApply vendor patch ALPS08308607 which adds proper bounds checking to prevent out-of-bounds memory writes in the keyInstall 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:= 11.0= 12.0= 13.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shell
    Affected if Version is 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 exactly (not later security patch versions)
  2. Verify Keymaster/TEE subsystem status
    Check if the device uses Keymaster by running 'dumpsys keymaster' or checking /vendor/etc/init/android.hardware.keymaster* service files via ADB
    Affected if Keymaster service is running and the device implements the keyInstall function for key generation/importation
  3. Confirm vendor patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.vendor.build.version.security_patch' via ADB shell to check the installed security patch date
    Affected if The patch level is earlier than the ALPS08308607 fix date, indicating the bounds check is not yet applied to the keyInstall component
  4. Check for privilege escalation indicators
    Review system logs via 'logcat -d | grep -i keymaster' or 'dmesg' for any out-of-bounds memory access errors related to keyInstall operations
    Affected if Unexpected crashes, memory corruption errors, or privilege escalation indicators appear in logs referencing the keyInstall component

A device is affected if it runs Android 11.0, 12.0, or 13.0 with Keymaster enabled and lacks the vendor-specific bounds-check patch ALPS08308607 in the keyInstall component.

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 vendor patch ALPS08308607 which adds proper bounds checking to prevent out-of-bounds memory writes in the keyInstall component.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Android 11.0, 12.0, 13.0 with May 2023 or later MediaTek security patch (contact OEM for specific version)

  1. Contact your device manufacturer (OEM) to obtain the latest MediaTek firmware update containing patch ALPS08308607
  2. Apply the Android system update that includes the MediaTek security patch for this vulnerability
  3. Verify the patch has been applied by checking Android Security Patch Level in Settings > About Phone > Software Information

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,920
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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-2023-32872 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
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