dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-35677

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
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 onCreate of DeviceAdminAdd.java, there is a possible way to forcibly add a device admin due to a missing permission check. This could lead to local denial of service (factory reset or continuous locking) 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 missing permission check in the onCreate method of DeviceAdminAdd.java in Android's Device Policy Controller allows any local application to forcibly add a device admin without proper authorization. This can be exploited to trigger factory reset or cause continuous device locking, resulting in local denial of service.

MitigationThis is an AOSP platform vulnerability requiring a security patch from Google; users should apply Android system updates as they become available.

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= 12.1= 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 and verify the exact version number (11.0, 12.0, 12.1, or 13.0)
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 11.0, 12.0, 12.1, or 13.0
  2. Verify Device Policy Controller accessibility
    Check if the DeviceAdminAdd component (device policy manager) is accessible to other applications by reviewing app permissions and intent filters
    Affected if Other installed apps can trigger the DeviceAdminAdd activity without proper authorization checks
  3. Inspect device admin list
    Navigate to Settings > Security > Device admin apps (or Settings > Apps > Device admin apps) and review all entries
    Affected if There are unexpected or unauthorized device admin entries present that were not intentionally added by the user or administrator
  4. Check security patch level
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level and note the date
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the date this vulnerability was fixed (the fix was released as part of the Android security bulletin)

A user is affected if their Android version is exactly 11.0, 12.0, 12.1, or 13.0 and they have not received the corresponding security patch that addresses the missing permission check in DeviceAdminAdd.

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

This is an AOSP platform vulnerability requiring a security patch from Google; users should apply Android system updates as they become available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Android 14.0 or latest available security patch for Android 11.0/12.0/12.1/13.0

  1. 1. Check the current Android version on the affected device by going to Settings > About Phone > Android version
  2. 2. Update to Android 14.0 or later if the device is eligible for the upgrade, as Android 14.0 is not listed in the affected versions (11.0, 12.0, 12.1, 13.0)
  3. 3. If upgrading to Android 14.0 is not possible, apply the latest monthly security patch available for the device by checking Settings > Security > Security update and installing any available updates
  4. 4. Verify the security patch level is at least the October 2023 security patch or later, which typically contains fixes for missing authorization vulnerabilities in system components
Caveat Upgrading to a new Android version may cause compatibility issues with existing apps or configurations; review app compatibility before proceeding

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-35677 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-35677 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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