# CVE-2021-39659: Denial of service in Android

> An unhandled exception in Android's emergency calling processor allows local attackers to cause a denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 14 Jan 2022
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** A-208267659, ASB-A-208267659, GHSA-38mp-p2g2-47gf

## What is CVE-2021-39659?

CVE-2021-39659 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Google Android, published on 14 Jan 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In sortSimPhoneAccountsForEmergency of CreateConnectionProcessor.java, there is a possible prevention of access to emergency calling due to an unhandled exception. In rare instances, this could lead to local denial of service with User execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-10 Android-11 Android-12Android ID: A-208267659

Weakness: CWE-755 (Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-39659?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Google Android.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-39659?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-39659 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-39659 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Google Android

- [CVE-2026-58704](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-58704/): Google Pixel Improper Authorization (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-48543](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48543/): Android Runtime Use-After-Free (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-35674](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-35674/): Android Framework Privilege Escalation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-48595](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48595/): Android Framework Integer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-32896](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-32896/): Android Pixel Privilege Escalation (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-39659 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-39659 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Google Android, published on 14 Jan 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-39659 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Google Android. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39659/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39659/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-39659
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-39659
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-39659

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39659/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.