CVE-2021-39668

Local privilege escalation via recreated control Intent

Published Feb 11, 2022 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Intent redirection in Android 11 and 12 System UI allows local users to perform privileged actions via a crafted app control. DetailDialog.onActivityViewReady extracts an app-supplied PendingIntent's underlying Intent, recreates it, and launches it under System UI privileges. Exploitation requires the user to activate the malicious control, but the attacking app needs no additional execution privileges.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.13%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Intent redirection in Android 11 and 12 System UI allows local users to perform privileged actions via a crafted app control. DetailDialog.onActivityViewReady extracts an app-supplied PendingIntent's underlying Intent, recreates it, and launches it under System UI privileges. Exploitation requires the user to activate the malicious control, but the attacking app needs no additional execution privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-39668
Published
Feb 11, 2022
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Google Cloud
Product
Android
Classifications
CWE-610, T1404
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 11, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=Android-11 Android-12

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Google Cloud · Androidversion=Android-11 Android-12

Published CVSS scores

7.2NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
7.8NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-610Externally Controlled Reference to a Resource in Another Sphere
T1404Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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