CVE-2023-20957

Local privilege escalation via unguarded Settings pages

Published Mar 24, 2023 · Updated Feb 25, 2025

Privilege escalation in Android 11, 12, and 12L allows local users to bypass Factory Reset Protection without user interaction. SettingsPreferenceFragment.onAttach failed to check whether device provisioning was complete and left Account, App Info, Developer, and Reset pages accessible during Setup Wizard. A low-privileged local user can reach protected Settings functions before initial setup completes and obtain elevated access.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.09%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Android 11, 12, and 12L allows local users to bypass Factory Reset Protection without user interaction. SettingsPreferenceFragment.onAttach failed to check whether device provisioning was complete and left Account, App Info, Developer, and Reset pages accessible during Setup Wizard. A low-privileged local user can reach protected Settings functions before initial setup completes and obtain elevated access.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-20957
Published
Mar 24, 2023
Updated
Feb 25, 2025
Vendor
Google Cloud
Product
Android
Classifications
CWE-266, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 24, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 25, 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-11 Android-12 Android-12L

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

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

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8CISA-ADPCVSS: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 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-266Incorrect Privilege Assignment
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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