CVE-2023-21068

Local privilege escalation via hidden Fastboot debug policy

Published Mar 24, 2023 · Updated Feb 20, 2025

Privilege escalation in Google Pixel allows local users to gain elevated access by booting a device with a hidden debug policy. The Fastboot startup screen omits a warning when that policy is hidden, leaving the next device user unaware of the debug state. Exploitation requires attackers to prepare the physical device, suppress the warning, and pass it to a new user; no further user interaction is required.

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 Google Pixel allows local users to gain elevated access by booting a device with a hidden debug policy. The Fastboot startup screen omits a warning when that policy is hidden, leaving the next device user unaware of the debug state. Exploitation requires attackers to prepare the physical device, suppress the warning, and pass it to a new user; no further user interaction is required.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-21068
Published
Mar 24, 2023
Updated
Feb 20, 2025
Vendor
Google
Product
Google Pixel
Classifications
CWE-269, T1626
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 24, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 20, 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 kernel

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Google · Google Pixelversion=Android kernel

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.

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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-269Improper Privilege Management
T1626Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism

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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