CVE-2023-20685

Privilege escalation via vdec use-after-free race

Published Apr 6, 2023 · Updated Feb 12, 2025

Use-after-free in MediaTek vdec on affected Android 12.0 and 13.0 chipsets allows local users with System privileges to gain elevated privileges. A race in the vdec component frees an object while a concurrent execution path still uses it. Exploitation requires local access and existing System execution privileges, but no user interaction; successful exploitation grants higher privileges.

CVSS severity6.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.07%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in MediaTek vdec on affected Android 12.0 and 13.0 chipsets allows local users with System privileges to gain elevated privileges. A race in the vdec component frees an object while a concurrent execution path still uses it. Exploitation requires local access and existing System execution privileges, but no user interaction; successful exploitation grants higher privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-20685
Published
Apr 6, 2023
Updated
Feb 12, 2025
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-662, CWE-362, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 6, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 12, 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?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

6.4NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/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.

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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
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-662Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
T1068Exploitation 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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