AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-42709

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

This is a local privilege escalation/information disclosure vulnerability in a firewall service where a missing permission check allows an app to write permission usage records. An attacker with local access could exploit this to access sensitive permission usage data they shouldn't have access to, without needing elevated privileges.

MitigationAdd proper permission checks (e.g., Binder permission check or signature/privileged permission enforcement) in the firewall service code before allowing write access to permission usage records. Restrict access to only authorized system components.

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 The version is exactly 11.0 or 12.0 (these are the affected versions per this CVE)
  2. Identify firewall service presence
    Check for running firewall-related system services via 'dumpsys' command: run 'dumpsys activity services | grep -i firewall' in ADB shell
    Affected if A firewall service component exists and is running on the affected Android version
  3. Verify permission enforcement on firewall service
    Use 'dumpsys package <service_component_name>' to inspect the service's permission requirements in the manifest, looking for any WRITE or READ permission checks on permission usage records
    Affected if The service lacks proper Binder or signature permission checks before allowing write access to permission usage data
  4. Test for unauthorized permission record access
    Attempt to query permission usage records through the firewall service interface using a non-privileged test app or via 'content query' commands on permission usage content provider if exposed
    Affected if Non-privileged apps can read or write permission usage records that should require elevated permissions

You are affected if your device runs Android 11.0 or 12.0 AND the firewall service with the missing permission check is present and accessible on your device.

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

Add proper permission checks (e.g., Binder permission check or signature/privileged permission enforcement) in the firewall service code before allowing write access to permission usage records. Restrict access to only authorized system components.

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

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-42709 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-42709 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