CVE-2023-21086

Guest privilege escalation via NFC toggle bypass

Published Apr 19, 2023 · Updated Feb 5, 2025

Permissions bypass in Android 11, 12, 12L, and 13 allows local users in a Guest account to enable NFC without interaction. SecureNfcEnabler.isToggleable() and SecureNfcPreferenceController.isToggleable() reject only guest users, so other secondary users pass the toggle check. A local secondary account is required; the flaw changes the device-wide secure-NFC setting without further privileges or user interaction.

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

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Permissions bypass in Android 11, 12, 12L, and 13 allows local users in a Guest account to enable NFC without interaction. SecureNfcEnabler.isToggleable() and SecureNfcPreferenceController.isToggleable() reject only guest users, so other secondary users pass the toggle check. A local secondary account is required; the flaw changes the device-wide secure-NFC setting without further privileges or user interaction.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-21086
Published
Apr 19, 2023
Updated
Feb 5, 2025
Vendor
Google Cloud
Product
Android
Classifications
T1404
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 19, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 5, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

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 Android-13

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

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

Published CVSS scores

7.8CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 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

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

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo