AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2025-36908

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-04
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 lwis_top_register_io of lwis_device_top.c, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System 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 · moderate confidence

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in the lwis_top_register_io function of the Linux kernel driver lwis_device_top.c due to an incorrect bounds check. This allows a local attacker with System execution privileges to escalate privileges to root by writing beyond allocated buffer boundaries.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided kernel/driver patch that corrects the bounds check in lwis_top_register_io. If no patch is available, consider disabling the affected driver or restricting access to the device until a fix is released.

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
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. Confirm the device is running Google Android
    Check /system/build.prop for ro.build.fingerprint containing 'Android' or run 'uname -a' to see kernel version info
    Affected if The device is any Google Android system (all versions are affected per the CVE)
  2. Verify the lwis kernel driver is present
    Check /proc/config.gz (kernel config) for CONFIG_LWIS or check /sys/module/ for 'lwis' module, or list device nodes in /dev/ for lwis-related devices
    Affected if The lwis driver module exists in the kernel and is loaded or the driver is compiled in
  3. Check if lwis_top_register_io function is accessible
    Review the kernel module (if loaded) or driver code to confirm lwis_top_register_io function exists and handles register I/O operations
    Affected if The lwis driver includes the lwis_top_register_io function for register read/write operations
  4. Confirm attacker has System-level execution context
    Determine if an untrusted app or process can obtain System UID (uid=1000) execution context through another vulnerability or permission escalation
    Affected if A local attacker can execute code with System privileges to trigger the out-of-bounds write in lwis_top_register_io

If the device runs any version of Google Android and has the lwis kernel driver with the lwis_top_register_io function loaded or compiled in, and a local attacker can obtain System execution context, the environment is affected by this CVE.

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 vendor-provided kernel/driver patch that corrects the bounds check in lwis_top_register_io. If no patch is available, consider disabling the affected driver or restricting access to the device until a fix is released.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,970
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-36908 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