CVE-2023-20834

Local privilege escalation via pda race condition

Published Sep 4, 2023 · Updated Oct 21, 2024

Use-after-free in MediaTek MT8781 pda on Android 12.0 and 13.0 allows local users with System privileges to escalate privileges. A race condition in pda permits an object to be freed while another execution path can still use it. Exploitation requires local high-privilege access, needs no user interaction, and can obtain execution at a higher privilege level.

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 MT8781 pda on Android 12.0 and 13.0 allows local users with System privileges to escalate privileges. A race condition in pda permits an object to be freed while another execution path can still use it. Exploitation requires local high-privilege access, needs no user interaction, and can obtain execution at a higher privilege level.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-20834
Published
Sep 4, 2023
Updated
Oct 21, 2024
Vendor
MediaTek
Product
MT8781
Classifications
CWE-362, CWE-416, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 4, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 21, 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=Android 12.0
  2. Affected versionversion=Android 13.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

MediaTek · MT8781version=Android 12.0; version=Android 13.0

Published CVSS scores

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

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-416Use After Free
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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