Local privilege escalation via faulty Binder cleanup
Published Jul 12, 2023 · Updated Feb 13, 2025
Use-after-free in Binder in Google Android kernels allows local users to escalate privileges through a malformed Binder transaction. A failed transaction with no processed objects supplies a zero failed_at offset, which cleanup misreads as an instruction to release every buffer object, freeing Binder nodes that later code accesses. A low-privileged local process can trigger the flaw without user interaction and gain kernel-level privileges.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Binder in Google Android kernels allows local users to escalate privileges through a malformed Binder transaction. A failed transaction with no processed objects supplies a zero failed_at offset, which cleanup misreads as an instruction to release every buffer object, freeing Binder nodes that later code accesses. A low-privileged local process can trigger the flaw without user interaction and gain kernel-level privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-21255
- Published
- Jul 12, 2023
- Updated
- Feb 13, 2025
- Vendor
- Product
- Android
- Classifications
- CWE-416, CWE-787, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 12, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 13, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=Android kernel
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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