AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2025-20795

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 KeyInstall, 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: ALPS10276761; Issue ID: MSV-5141.

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 write vulnerability in KeyInstall exists due to a missing bounds check, allowing local privilege escalation from System privilege to higher privileges without user interaction.

MitigationApply vendor patch ALPS10276761 to remediate the missing bounds check in KeyInstall. Since exploitation requires System privilege already, prioritize patching on systems where adversaries may have achieved System-level access.

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:= 13.0= 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Check Android version
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via adb shell, or check Settings > About Phone > Android version
    Affected if Version equals 13.0, 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 (exact match to affected versions)
  2. Verify KeyInstall service exists
    Run 'dumpsys keyinstall' via adb shell to query the KeyInstall service
    Affected if Service responds (indicates KeyInstall component is present and enabled)
  3. Check security patch level
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via adb shell
    Affected if Patch level is earlier than ALPS10276761 (the vendor patch for this CVE)

Environment is affected if running Android 13.0, 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 with the KeyInstall service present and the security patch level predates the fix.

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 vendor patch ALPS10276761 to remediate the missing bounds check in KeyInstall. Since exploitation requires System privilege already, prioritize patching on systems where adversaries may have achieved System-level access.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Contact device OEM for Android security bulletin containing MediaTek patch ALPS10276761 - no specific Android version number available from public sources

  1. Contact your device OEM to verify if the MediaTek ALPS10276761 patch has been applied to your device's system image
  2. If the patch is not applied, request the OEM-provided security update containing the fix for CVE-2025-20795
  3. Alternatively, if you build Android from source for MediaTek-based devices, apply MediaTek patch ALPS10276761 to the KeyInstall component and rebuild the system image
  4. After applying the patch, verify the KeyInstall module version includes the bounds check validation
Caveat Patches for low-level secure boot components may require full system re-flash; ensure backup before applying OEM update

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2025-20795 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