CVE-2022-20492

Local privilege escalation via unbounded Zen-rule fields

Published Jan 24, 2023 · Updated Apr 3, 2025

Resource exhaustion in Android 10, 11, 12, 12L, and 13 allows local users to escalate privileges through automatic Zen rules. AutomaticZenRule accepts unbounded name, condition URI, owner, and configuration-activity strings, exhausting memory or preventing rules from being written to disk. A local low-privilege app can supply oversized fields without user interaction, leaving permission settings unpersisted and enabling privilege escalation.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.27%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource exhaustion in Android 10, 11, 12, 12L, and 13 allows local users to escalate privileges through automatic Zen rules. AutomaticZenRule accepts unbounded name, condition URI, owner, and configuration-activity strings, exhausting memory or preventing rules from being written to disk. A local low-privilege app can supply oversized fields without user interaction, leaving permission settings unpersisted and enabling privilege escalation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-20492
Published
Jan 24, 2023
Updated
Apr 3, 2025
Vendor
Google Cloud
Product
Android
Classifications
CWE-770, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 24, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 3, 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?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=Android-10 Android-11 Android-12 Android-12L Android-13

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Google Cloud · Androidversion=Android-10 Android-11 Android-12 Android-12L Android-13

Published CVSS scores

7.8NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8CISA ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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