AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-48422

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-08
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 Init of protocolnetadapter.cpp, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local information disclosure 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

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in the Init function of protocolnetadapter.cpp due to a missing bounds check. The flaw allows a local attacker to read sensitive information from memory beyond allocated buffers without requiring any elevated privileges or user interaction.

MitigationImplement proper bounds checking before array access in the Init function of protocolnetadapter.cpp to ensure read operations stay within allocated buffer boundaries.

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:all versions

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. Locate the protocolnetadapter component
    Search the Android device filesystem for files named 'protocolnetadapter.cpp' or containing this string using: find / -name '*protocolnetadapter*' 2>/dev/null
    Affected if The file exists on the device - the vulnerable code is present
  2. Identify the binary or library containing the vulnerable code
    If the .cpp file is found, identify the compiled binary or shared library it links to by examining the parent directory structure and any build artifacts
    Affected if A compiled binary/library containing protocolnetadapter is present and loaded on the device
  3. Check for the Init function in the component
    Use strings or objdump to examine the binary for the Init function signature from protocolnetadapter.cpp: strings <binary_or_library> | grep -i 'Init'
    Affected if The Init function from protocolnetadapter is present in a loaded component
  4. Determine if the network adapter feature is enabled
    Check Android system logs or kernel messages for network adapter initialization related to protocolnetadapter. Look for: logcat -d | grep -i 'protocolnetadapter' or check dmesg output
    Affected if The component is being initialized at runtime - the vulnerable code path is active

If the protocolnetadapter component with its Init function is present and actively initialized on the Android device, the out-of-bounds read vulnerability is exploitable.

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 bounds checking before array access in the Init function of protocolnetadapter.cpp to ensure read operations stay within allocated buffer boundaries.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-48422 — 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-2023-48422 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