AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2025-20661

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-07
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 PlayReady TA, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege if a malicious actor has already obtained the System privilege. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: DTV04436357; Issue ID: MSV-3185.

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

In PlayReady Trusted Application (TA), a missing bounds check allows an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. An attacker who already has System privilege can exploit this for local privilege escalation. The vulnerability stems from insufficient boundary validation when accessing memory in the PlayReady TA component.

MitigationApply the Microsoft patch (DTV04436357) which addresses the missing bounds check. Since this is a Microsoft component, obtain the updated PlayReady TA from Microsoft's official channels and update all affected systems/devices that implement PlayReady.

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:= 12.0= 14.0
Mt9972Hardware / appliance
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
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. Identify Android version
    Check the Android OS version on the device (Settings > About Phone > Android version).
    Affected if The Android version is exactly 12.0 or exactly 14.0.
  2. Identify chipset model
    Check the system information or device specifications to determine if the Mediatek Mt9972 chipset is present.
    Affected if The device uses the Mediatek Mt9972 chipset (all versions are affected).
  3. Check for PlayReady component
    Inspect system properties or DRM configuration to verify the PlayReady Trusted Application (TA) component is installed on the device.
    Affected if PlayReady TA is present on the device.
  4. Verify PlayReady TA version
    Query the PlayReady TA version through system APIs, DRM diagnostics, or check the PlayReady component metadata if accessible.
    Affected if The PlayReady TA version is older than the version containing the Microsoft patch DTV04436357 (vulnerable if unpatched).

A user is affected if they have a device running Android 12.0 or 14.0, or a device using the Mediatek Mt9972 chipset, with an unpatched PlayReady TA component present.

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

Apply the Microsoft patch (DTV04436357) which addresses the missing bounds check. Since this is a Microsoft component, obtain the updated PlayReady TA from Microsoft's official channels and update all affected systems/devices that implement PlayReady.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2025-20661 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