CVE-2021-1038: Android Automotive OS Update Bulletin—December 2021  |  Android Open Source Project

Android Automotive OS Update Bulletin—December 2021

Published December 6, 2021

The Android Automotive OS (AAOS) Update Bulletin contains details of security vulnerabilities affecting the Android Automotive OS platform. The full AAOS update comprises the security patch level of 2021-12-05 or later from the December 2021 Android Security Bulletin in addition to all issues in this bulletin.

We encourage all customers to accept these updates to their devices.

The most severe of these issues is a high security vulnerability in the Platform Apps component that could enable a local malicious application to bypass user interaction requirements to gain access to additional permissions. The severity assessment is based on the effect that exploiting the vulnerability would possibly have on an affected device, assuming the platform and service mitigations are turned off for development purposes or if successfully bypassed.

Announcements

• In addition to the security vulnerabilities described in the December 2021 Android Security Bulletin, the December 2021 Android Automotive OS Update Bulletin also contains patches specifically for AAOS vulnerabilities as described below.

2021-12-01 security patch level vulnerability details

In the sections below, we provide details for each of the security vulnerabilities that apply to the 2021-12-01 patch level. Vulnerabilities are grouped under the component they affect. Issues are described in the tables below and include CVE ID, associated references, type of vulnerability, severity, and updated AOSP versions (where applicable). When available, we link the public change that addressed the issue to the bug ID, like the AOSP change list. When multiple changes relate to a single bug, additional references are linked to numbers following the bug ID. Devices with Android 10 and later may receive security updates as well as Google Play system updates.

Platform Apps

The most severe vulnerability in this section could enable a local malicious application to bypass user interaction requirements to gain access to additional permissions.

CVE

References

Type

Severity

Updated AOSP versions

CVE-2021-1039

A-182808318

EoP

High

9, 10, 11, 12

CVE-2021-1040

A-182810085

EoP

High

9, 10, 11, 12

CVE-2021-1038

A-183411279

DoS

High

9, 10, 11, 12

Common questions and answers

This section answers common questions that may occur after reading this bulletin.

1. How do I determine if my device is updated to address these issues?

To learn how to check a device’s security patch level, read the instructions on the Google device update schedule.

• Security patch levels of 2021-12-01 or later address all issues associated with the 2021-12-01 security patch level.

Device manufacturers that include these updates should set the patch string level to:

• [ro.build.version.security_patch]:[2021-12-01]

For some devices on Android 10 or later, the Google Play system update will have a date string that matches the 2021-12-01 security patch level. Please see this article for more details on how to install security updates.

2. What do the entries in the Type column mean?

Entries in the Type column of the vulnerability details table reference the classification of the security vulnerability.

Abbreviation

Definition

RCE

Remote code execution

EoP

Elevation of privilege

ID

Information disclosure

DoS

Denial of service

N/A

Classification not available

3. What do the entries in the References column mean?

Entries under the References column of the vulnerability details table may contain a prefix identifying the organization to which the reference value belongs.

Prefix

Reference

A-

Android bug ID

QC-

Qualcomm reference number

M-

MediaTek reference number

N-

NVIDIA reference number

B-

Broadcom reference number

U-

UNISOC reference number

4. What does an * next to the Android bug ID in the References column mean?

Issues that are not publicly available have an * next to the corresponding reference ID. The update for that issue is generally contained in the latest binary drivers for Pixel devices available from the Google Developer site.

5. Why are security vulnerabilities split between this bulletin and device / partner security bulletins, such as the Pixel bulletin?

Security vulnerabilities that are documented in this security bulletin are required to declare the latest security patch level on Android devices. Additional security vulnerabilities that are documented in the device / partner security bulletins are not required for declaring a security patch level. Android device and chipset manufacturers may also publish security vulnerability details specific to their products, such as Google, Huawei, LGE, Motorola, Nokia, or Samsung.

Versions

Version

Date

Notes

1.0

December 6, 2021

Bulletin Released