CVE-2023-20827

Local privilege escalation via IMS service race

Published Sep 4, 2023 · Updated Oct 10, 2024

Improper synchronization in MediaTek's IMS service on Android 12.0 and 13.0 allows local users to gain elevated privileges via a race condition. The IMS service mishandles concurrent access to shared state, allowing a race to corrupt memory; MediaTek has not disclosed the affected function or object. Exploitation requires System execution privileges and no user interaction, limiting reachability to already highly privileged local code.

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

Improper synchronization in MediaTek's IMS service on Android 12.0 and 13.0 allows local users to gain elevated privileges via a race condition. The IMS service mishandles concurrent access to shared state, allowing a race to corrupt memory; MediaTek has not disclosed the affected function or object. Exploitation requires System execution privileges and no user interaction, limiting reachability to already highly privileged local code.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-20827
Published
Sep 4, 2023
Updated
Oct 10, 2024
Vendor
MediaTek
Product
MT6889
Classifications
CWE-362, CWE-662, CWE-1298, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 4, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 10, 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=0 <=*

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

MediaTek · MT6889version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6875version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6789version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6835version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6891version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6768version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MediaTek MT6785version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6853Tversion=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6855version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6763version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6893version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6885version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6769version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT8791Tversion=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6879version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6873version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6781version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6877version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6886version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MediaTek MT6761version=0 <=*
Google · Androidversion=12.0; version=13.0
MediaTek · MediaTek MT6762version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6853version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6771version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT8673version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6883version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6985version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6833version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT8797version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6983version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MediaTek MT6779version=0 <=*
MediaTek · MT6895version=0 <=*

Published CVSS scores

6.4NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
6.7CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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.

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

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
CWE-662Improper Synchronization
CWE-1298Hardware Logic Contains Race Conditions
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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