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AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2025-48645

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-02
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 loadDescription of DeviceAdminInfo.java, there is a possible persistent package due to improper input validation. This could lead to local escalation of privilege 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 · moderate confidence

This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Android's Device Administration framework. The loadDescription method in DeviceAdminInfo.java fails to properly validate input when processing device admin descriptions, allowing a malicious application to register itself as a persistent device administrator without appropriate validation checks.

MitigationApply the vendor patch (Google's Android Security Bulletin) addressing CVE-2025-48645. Users should avoid granting device administrator permissions to untrusted applications until the patch is applied.

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
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
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB
    Affected if Version is 14.0, 15.0, or 16.0 (any patch level)
  2. List apps with device administrator privileges
    Navigate to Settings > Apps > Special access > Device admin apps, or use ADB command: 'dpm list-active-admins --user 0'
    Affected if Any application that is not a trusted system app or a legitimate enterprise/MDM app appears in the device admin list
  3. Review device admin permissions granted
    In Settings > Apps > Special access > Device admin apps, tap each admin app and inspect the permissions listed under 'Device administrators can:'. Look for permissions that allow persistent monitoring or policy enforcement.
    Affected if A suspicious or untrusted app has broad admin capabilities (e.g., lock/wipe, policy enforcement, screen monitoring)
  4. Check for suspicious DeviceAdminReceiver components
    Use a package analyzer (like 'aapt dump badging' via ADB or a third-party app analyzer) to inspect the AndroidManifest.xml of suspect apps for any <device-admin> declarations with malicious-looking description resources
    Affected if An app declares a DeviceAdminReceiver with a description that references external/untrusted content or shows unexpected attributes

The environment is affected if running Android 14, 15, or 16 and any untrusted or unknown application has been granted device administrator permissions.

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 the vendor patch (Google's Android Security Bulletin) addressing CVE-2025-48645. Users should avoid granting device administrator permissions to untrusted applications until the patch is applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Check your Android device's current security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Android version > Security patch level
  2. Wait for and install the latest Android security update released by your device manufacturer that addresses this vulnerability
  3. After the update is installed, verify the security patch level has been updated to a version after the fix date
  4. Alternatively, if your device manufacturer has released a newer Android version (e.g., Android 17 or later), you may upgrade to that version which should include the fix
Caveat Security updates are generally backward-compatible and should not introduce breaking changes; however, upgrading to a newer Android major version may have behavior changes

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

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
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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-2025-48645 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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