AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-42708

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-04
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 firewall service, there is a possible way to write permission usage records of an app due to a missing permission check. This could lead to local information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed

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

A missing permission check in the firewall service allows an unprivileged local attacker to write permission usage records of an app, leading to local information disclosure. The vulnerability requires no additional execution privileges to exploit.

MitigationImplement proper permission validation in the firewall service before allowing write access to permission usage records. Apply the vendor patch once 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

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
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 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 exactly 11.0 or 12.0 (the only affected versions listed)
  2. Identify firewall service configuration
    Check if a firewall service or app is installed that manages network permissions. Look for apps with 'firewall', 'netguard', or similar in Settings > Apps, or check for the native Android firewall in Settings > Network & Internet > Firewall
    Affected if Any firewall service or app that can access permission usage records is present on Android 11.0 or 12.0
  3. Review permission usage logs
    Check Settings > Security > Permission usage, or look for log files in /data/log/ or /data/system/ permission_usage* files that may show unauthorized access timestamps
    Affected if Permission usage records show writes from unexpected apps or at unexpected times, indicating potential exploitation
  4. Audit installed apps for suspicious behavior
    Use 'dumpsys package' via ADB to list all installed apps, then check logs for any app other than system components accessing permission usage data via the firewall service
    Affected if Non-system apps have accessed or modified permission usage records on affected Android versions

Environment is affected if running Android 11.0 or 12.0 with any firewall service enabled that can interact with permission usage records, as the missing permission check allows any unprivileged local app to write those records.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper permission validation in the firewall service before allowing write access to permission usage records. Apply the vendor patch once available.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-42708 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data