CVE-2023-20943

Local privilege escalation via system-file path traversal

Published Feb 28, 2023 · Updated Mar 21, 2025

Path traversal in Android 10 through 13 allows local users to delete system files through clearApplicationUserData. ActivityManagerService.clearApplicationUserData fails to confine a package-derived path to the intended application-data directory before deletion. A user-executed app can trigger the flaw without user interaction, and deletion with system privileges enables local privilege escalation.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Path traversal in Android 10 through 13 allows local users to delete system files through clearApplicationUserData. ActivityManagerService.clearApplicationUserData fails to confine a package-derived path to the intended application-data directory before deletion. A user-executed app can trigger the flaw without user interaction, and deletion with system privileges enables local privilege escalation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-20943
Published
Feb 28, 2023
Updated
Mar 21, 2025
Vendor
Google Cloud
Product
Android
Classifications
CWE-22, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 28, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 21, 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-10 Android-11 Android-12 Android-12L Android-13

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Google Cloud · Androidversion=Android-10 Android-11 Android-12 Android-12L Android-13

Published CVSS scores

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

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
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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