Remote code execution via unterminated locale string
Published Dec 13, 2022 · Updated Apr 22, 2025
Out-of-bounds read in Android 10, 11, 12, 12L, and 13 allows remote attackers to execute code via malformed locale data. The toLanguageTag path in LocaleListCache.cpp treats an ICU warning as success when output fills its buffer, then passes a non-null-terminated string to later functions. No privileges or user interaction are required, and the resulting read enables code execution in the Android Framework.
Summary
What happened
Out-of-bounds read in Android 10, 11, 12, 12L, and 13 allows remote attackers to execute code via malformed locale data. The toLanguageTag path in LocaleListCache.cpp treats an ICU warning as success when output fills its buffer, then passes a non-null-terminated string to later functions. No privileges or user interaction are required, and the resulting read enables code execution in the Android Framework.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-20473
- Published
- Dec 13, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 22, 2025
- Vendor
- Google Cloud
- Product
- Android
- Classifications
- CWE-125
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 13, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 22, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=Android-10 Android-11 Android-12 Android-12L Android-13
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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