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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2025-20749

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-04
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 charger, there is a possible out of bounds write 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: ALPS09915493; Issue ID: MSV-3800.

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

Missing bounds check in the charger driver allows an out-of-bounds write vulnerability. Since the attacker must already have System privileges, this represents a local privilege escalation vector within the charger component's memory space. No user interaction is required for exploitation.

MitigationApply patch ALPS09915493 to update the charger driver/firmware. Since System-level access is a prerequisite, prioritize preventing initial System compromise through standard access controls and least-privilege principles.

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:= 14.0= 15.0= 16.0

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
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. Verify Android version
    Check the device settings under Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if The displayed version is exactly 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0
  2. Confirm charger driver presence
    Check for the charger driver module by examining /sys/class/power_supply/ or looking for charger-related kernel modules via 'lsmod' and searching for 'charger' or 'battery' driver entries
    Affected if A charger driver or battery management driver is loaded on the device
  3. Check System-level access availability
    Determine if the device grants System-level privileges by identifying apps or processes holding android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW or root/System access via 'dumpsys package' or reviewing granted permissions
    Affected if Any process or application possesses System-level privileges beyond standard user access
  4. Identify charger firmware version
    Query the charger IC or power management IC firmware version via vendor-specific interfaces such as 'cat /sys/class/power_supply/*/firmware_version' or vendor diagnostic tools
    Affected if The charger firmware version cannot be verified as patched or matches the pre-patch ALPS09915493 state

The device is affected if it runs Android 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 with the vulnerable charger driver present and any process holds System-level privileges, allowing local privilege escalation within the charger component memory space.

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

Apply patch ALPS09915493 to update the charger driver/firmware. Since System-level access is a prerequisite, prioritize preventing initial System compromise through standard access controls and least-privilege principles.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Contact MediaTek or your device OEM/ODM to obtain the patch ALPS09915493
  2. Apply the vendor-supplied patch to the affected Android device firmware
  3. Verify the patch has been applied by checking the system security patch level

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

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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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-2025-20749 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
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