CVE-2022-20540

Local privilege escalation via racing layer traversals

Published Dec 16, 2022 · Updated Apr 18, 2025

Use-after-free in SurfaceFlinger on Android 13 allows local users to execute arbitrary code and elevate privileges through concurrent dumpsys calls. SurfaceFlinger::doDump traverses a shared SortedVector off the main thread while another traversal can copy its backing storage, invalidating iterators. A local user must race diagnostic requests; successful exploitation runs code in the SurfaceFlinger context without user interaction.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Sep 17, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in SurfaceFlinger on Android 13 allows local users to execute arbitrary code and elevate privileges through concurrent dumpsys calls. SurfaceFlinger::doDump traverses a shared SortedVector off the main thread while another traversal can copy its backing storage, invalidating iterators. A local user must race diagnostic requests; successful exploitation runs code in the SurfaceFlinger context without user interaction.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-20540
Published
Dec 16, 2022
Updated
Apr 18, 2025
Vendor
Google Cloud
Product
Android
Classifications
CWE-416, T1404
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 16, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 18, 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-13

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Google Cloud · Androidversion=Android-13

Published CVSS scores

7.8CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8NIST NVDCVSS: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 11, 2026Sep 17, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 17, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-416Use After Free
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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