CVE-2023-21015

Local privilege escalation via unguarded Settings slices

Published Mar 24, 2023 · Updated Mar 17, 2025

Authorization bypass in Android 13 Settings allows local users to alter media-transcoding settings through Settings slices. Five transcode preference controllers return AVAILABLE unconditionally from getAvailabilityStatus instead of checking whether developer options are enabled. A guest or other local user needs no user interaction and can change those settings even while developer options are off.

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

Authorization bypass in Android 13 Settings allows local users to alter media-transcoding settings through Settings slices. Five transcode preference controllers return AVAILABLE unconditionally from getAvailabilityStatus instead of checking whether developer options are enabled. A guest or other local user needs no user interaction and can change those settings even while developer options are off.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-21015
Published
Mar 24, 2023
Updated
Mar 17, 2025
Vendor
Google Cloud
Product
Android
Classifications
CWE-862, T1404
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 24, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 17, 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-13

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Google Cloud · Androidversion=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
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.

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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-862Missing Authorization
T1404Exploitation 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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