CVE-2023-21109

Local privilege escalation via oversized accessibility metadata

Published May 15, 2023 · Updated Jan 24, 2025

Privilege escalation in Android 11, 12, 12L, and 13 allows local users to hide an app through oversized AccessibilityService metadata. The service XML parsing and update paths accept AccessibilityServiceInfo objects beyond Binder's maximum IPC size instead of rejecting them. No user interaction is required; an installed local app can exploit the parceling failure to conceal itself and obtain elevated privileges.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.13%
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, 12L, and 13 allows local users to hide an app through oversized AccessibilityService metadata. The service XML parsing and update paths accept AccessibilityServiceInfo objects beyond Binder's maximum IPC size instead of rejecting them. No user interaction is required; an installed local app can exploit the parceling failure to conceal itself and obtain elevated privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-21109
Published
May 15, 2023
Updated
Jan 24, 2025
Vendor
Google Cloud
Product
Android
Classifications
CWE-326, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 15, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 24, 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 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

7.8NIST 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-326Inadequate Encryption Strength
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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