CVE-2023-20835

Local privilege escalation via camsys use-after-free

Published Sep 4, 2023 · Updated Oct 21, 2024

Use-after-free in MediaTek MT8781 camsys on Android 12.0, Android 13.0, and IOT-v23.0 (Yocto 4.0) allows local users to elevate privileges. A race in camsys permits an object to be freed while another execution path can still access it, creating a stale-memory operation. Existing System execution privileges are required to reach the local flaw, no user interaction is needed, and MediaTek has not disclosed the affected function or precise race sequence.

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 camsys on Android 12.0, Android 13.0, and IOT-v23.0 (Yocto 4.0) allows local users to elevate privileges. A race in camsys permits an object to be freed while another execution path can still access it, creating a stale-memory operation. Existing System execution privileges are required to reach the local flaw, no user interaction is needed, and MediaTek has not disclosed the affected function or precise race sequence.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-20835
Published
Sep 4, 2023
Updated
Oct 21, 2024
Vendor
MediaTek
Product
MT8781
Classifications
CWE-416, CWE-362, 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
  3. Affected versionversion=IOT-v23.0 (Yocto 4.0)

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

MediaTek · MT8781version=Android 12.0; version=Android 13.0; version=IOT-v23.0 (Yocto 4.0)

Published CVSS scores

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

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
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-416Use After Free
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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